Tranquil Darkness
by Dark Angel Kaos
Summary: In order to continue living Allen made a deal with a Shinigami, in return he must slay the vampire lord. Allen accepts and goes to fulfill the requirement but he didn't count on falling madly in love with said vampire lord. Threeshot! AreKan!
1. Part One

Title: Tranquil Darkness

Author: Dark Angel Kaos

Fandom: -Man

Pairings: Allen x Kanda (AreKan), highly implied Lavi x Kanda

Rating: PG-18

Warnings: Yaoi, shonen ai, blood, gore, death, language, OOC-ness, vampires

Genre: AU, supernatural, action, angst

Disclaimer: …still don't own…sucks huh?

Summery: In order to continue living Allen made a deal with a Shinigami, in return he must slay the vampire lord. Allen accepts and goes to fulfill the requirement but he didn't count on falling madly in love with said vampire lord. Now he must chose between life and death. Twoshot! AreKan!

A/N: Hey ya'll! I know I know…I should be working on Default and not writing new fanfics…I know _but~_ it's not like I'm not working on Default, it's just ya know…I do have a very reasonable excuse as to why it and all my other fanfics are really late…tell ya at the end k. Anyway since Default will no doubt be late here's something to sink your teeth into hehehe. Hope this keeps ya'll entertained and happy while I sort myself out. The setting should be a normal old age seventeen century thing or the same setting as the anime. R&R o-n-e-g-a-i ! Beta'd by zenophobia!

Enjoy!

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X ~ x ~ x ~ X

Part One

X ~ x ~ x ~ X

Four boys ran across the empty field engaged in some sort of game. Their giggles and laughter echoed, shattering the calmness that was once present. One of the boys – seeming the youngest – stopped his hands across his chest in a pout.

"Allen-nii, Ryuu is tired," he whined.

The one called Allen chuckled to himself and stopped, causing the other two boys to stop also. He ran his hand through his thick brown hair and turned to face the younger child. His mouth opened to say something but the other two – twins – beat him to it.

"Aw, look at this, poor lil' Ryuu-chan tired already!" the first one taunted.

"Haha, he can't even play a game of tag!" the second one chirped.

Ryuu looked at them angrily; his emerald eyes began to water. Allen sighed as he watched Mira and Kira continue to tease Ryuu who looked like he will burst into tears any minute now.

"Oi! Stop it you two," he gave both of them a small but slightly painful tap on their heads. "Stop picking on poor Ryuu."

"Ow!"

"Allen-nii!"

Both complained.

"You two deserved it," Ryuu pointed his tongue at them.

Allen patted Ryuu on his head. Ryuu pouted at being treated like a kid. He pushed Allen's hand off his head.

"Allen-nii, stop treating Ryuu like a kid!" he complained.

Allen had to chuckle.

"But you are a kid Ryuu," Allen replied. "You're what, five years old?"

At that the twins chimed in.

"Ha ha we're older, so Ryuu is a baby!" the older twin, 'Mira', began.

"Yeah, so we can pick on you," the younger one 'Kira' added with glee.

"No you can't," Allen added. "You two are still babies too, you know," he chuckled. "Four years isn't much."

The twins pouted causing Allen to laugh.

"Aw, you two are just too cute," his laughter died down. "Come on, you two shouldn't make a cute face like that, it's my weakness."

At that the twins blushed, their pale blue eyes shone in embarrassment.

"Allen-nii!" Ryuu complained, he didn't like the fact that Allen was calling Mira and Kira cute. "What about Ryuu! Ryuu cute too, ne?"

"Of course, Ryuu-chan is really cute," Allen replied without hesitation, he was the only one who could use the –chan suffix with Ryuu without him being mad.

Ryuu's blush darkened exceptionally when Allen called him 'Ryuu-chan', whenever the twins called him that it always sounded teasing and when Lenalee or Komui used it he felt like a baby but when Allen called him like that…he always blushed.

"Ah look at the time, it's after nine already? Lets head back, guys," Allen said, he just checked his watch and was surprised to see how late it was. "Komui and Lenalee must be really worried by now." He shuddered as a mental image of an angry and worried Lenalee passed through his mind.

The twins however didn't feel like leaving.

"But Allen-nii, we haven't finished playing yet!" Mira whined.

"Yeah!" Kira added.

They were eager to continue their game of tag.

"Ryuu is tired so we have to head back, besides it's already past your curfew," Allen said in a voice that would have no arguments.

"But…"

"No buts," Allen took Ryuu's hand in his. "Come on you two, we don't want to get scolded by Lenalee do we?"

Ryuu turned back to look at the twins, wincing at the glare they sent his way. _'Oh no, they are angry with Ryuu.' _His head bowed when he realized he was the one that ruined the fun. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Ryuu what is the matter?"

Ryuu quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at Allen.

"Ryuu not tired anymore," Ryuu lied. "Ryuu can still play!"

Allen's face creased in worry.

"Don't push yourself so much," he tried to dissuade him.

"Ryuu isn't," Ryuu protested. "Ryuu can play!"

Allen shook his head with a sigh, _'When Ryuu is determined there's no stopping him.'_

"Ok," he gave in. "But we'll play hide and seek. You three hide and I'll come find you."

"Okay!" all three cheered, running off to hide.

"Don't go too far!" Allen yelled after them, he sighs when they continued running towards the junk yard. "*sigh* Oh well, time to count to ten."

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

Mira and Kira chuckled to themselves at their perfect hiding place. They can see Allen when he tried to find them. It was perfect! Allen would find Ryuu first and then they would win!

"He he he, we'll win for sure," Mira chuckled.

"True! Allen-nii won't find us here!" Kira added.

"I guess so, right?"

"Yep!" Mira and Kira nodded, and then stopped. They turned towards the voice that they heard and almost screamed when they saw Allen.

"Hehehe found ya!" Allen chuckled, but something caught his attention and he stopped. His eyes widened in fear.

"Aw we los-mmph," both of their mouths were clamped shut by Allen's hand, they looked up to glare and complain but the look in Allen's eyes made then gulp.

Allen looked scared, completely terrified. He shushed them and brought their head down inside the old carriage. After a while he lets them go.

"We need to get out of here," Allen said as soon as his hand moved from their mouths. "Where is Ryuu?"

"We don't know…" Mira felt scared now and so did Kira.

"Allen-nii what's going on?" Kira asked.

Allen didn't answer them. He just stared ahead.

"Allen-nii!" both yelled softly, everything was getting scary. They just wanted to go home.

"Go home and don't look back, I'm going to go find Ryuu," Allen said finally, his voice taking on an authoritive tone. "It's dangerous to stay here any longer. I have a feeling something bad will happen, go to Komui and tell him to call the police."

"P-p-police?"

Allen expression softened when he saw the scared looks Mira and Kira were giving him. _'Way to go Allen, you're scaring the kids.'_

"Don't worry, just go now, they entered the dump already so it's clear," Allen said trying to calm them down. "I promise you, I'll find Ryuu and come home okay, so don't cry."

"…okay." they sniffed.

They got up hesitantly and pushed the door to the old carriage open, but before they left, they turned back to Allen with their right pinkie finger extended.

"Promise?" they whispered.

Allen smiled taking both fingers with his.

"Yeah I promise."

They nodded, no longer sad as they knew their Allen-nii always kept his promises. They smiled brightly, their way of saying 'hurry up and get back'. Allen nodded and flashed them a genuine smile as his reply. Satisfied, they jumped out of the carriage and ran off to the direction of their orphanage.

Allen watched until they were across the clearing and weren't in his line of sight anymore. He sighed in relief that they were able to escape. Now all he had to do was to find Ryuu and get out before those bad guys find them.

He shuddered as he remembered what he saw awhile ago. Four guys with guns and a muscled guy carrying two men bound and gagged over his shoulder – no doubt on their way to be killed – but that wasn't what scared him still. It was the symbol they wore. 'Sharks'…that gang was the most ruthless and deadliest gang in all of England. No one ever survived an encounter with them and if there were witnesses, none ever survived. They killed anyone, even women and children…leave no one alive…that was their policy.

'_Ryuu where are you?'_

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"Allen-nii won't find Ryuu here!" Ryuu chuckled to himself; he hid behind a large pile of garbage, mostly metal pots and pin. It surrounded him like a makeshift fort.

"Oi, get there!"

'_Huh?'_ Ryuu's head perked up at the unfamiliar voice. _'That's not Allen-nii…who's that?'_ He peeped out to see who it was that was with him. A gasp almost escaped his lips at what he saw. _'W-who a-a-are tho..se p-people?' _He trembled, almost knocking over a can from the pile.

'_Ryuu needs to get out of here…' _but he was too scared to move, tears flood his eyes. _'Allen-nii please help Ryuu.'_

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"Damn it!" Allen cursed, he had searched through all the places that were unoccupied by the Shark gang, but Ryuu wasn't in any of them. Now the only place he could be was where the gang was…_'shit he might already be…' _No! He shook his head. There was no way he would think that! Ryuu was alive and he was going to find him.

A low mummer of voices to the left caught his attention. He hurried over to that side, carefully hiding among the garbage.

'_There they are…' _he looked around frantically behind his hiding place, _'but where is Ryuu?'_

He got up, crawling over to a different angle.

'_Ryuu!'_

He felt really relieved, but from the distance that was between the two of them, it would be hard to get to Ryuu without gaining unwanted attention. _'At least they haven't started killing yet.'_ That was the only good thing about the situation. He tried again to locate a safe route to get to Ryuu and almost smiled when he spotted a pile of rubbish that he could hide behind. It was closer to where Ryuu was, but he would need a distraction to get there. He got on all fours and picked up a stone.

'_It's a good thing their backs are to us,'_ he threw the stone to the right effectively gaining their attention to it.

"What's that?" one the men, presumably the boss asked. He gestured to one of the guys. "Go check it out."

The guy nodded walking to the direction where Allen threw the stone. Allen used the opportunity to crawl over to the pile. He waited a while before crawling over to where Ryuu was.

Ryuu was on the ground hugging himself by his knees in a foetal position with tears streaming down his cheeks. Allen felt his heart quake at the sight, Ryuu was trembling and it was clear that he was very scared.

He crawled closer to Ryuu putting his hand carefully on his messy thick black hair in a comforting way. Ryuu stopped trembling; scared emerald eyes met relieved dark brown ones.

"Alle-" Ryuu quickly placed his hands over his mouth when he saw Allen place his index finger on his lip. He was happy and relieved. _'Allen-nii came! He came for Ryuu!'_

"Ryuu follow me, we need to get away from here as quickly as possible," Allen whispered softly. "Don't make a sound, okay?"

Ryuu nodded vigorously showing that he understood. Allen smiled in relief and was about to take Ryuu in his arms so that he could lead him away, but the voice of one of the Shark's captives yelled.

"Oh God! Please don't kill me!" he cried out as soon as the gag was removed.

The boss laughed, a smirk formed on his lips.

"You betrayed the Sharks by selling information to the police. I say it's only fair that your punishment is death," his smirk widened as he nodded to one of the guys beside him.

"Got'cha boss."

There wasn't any time to prepare properly, the guy fired, hitting the pleading guy seven times. The shots were loud, scaring Ryuu even more. Allen had both his hands over Ryuu's ears while he held him in his arms, as a way to protect him from what was happening.

The other guy shook in fear as he watched one of his closest friends die before his eyes. After all it was his fault; he was the one that suggested that they sell information to the police. His fear rose when he saw the boss turn to face him.

"You're next."

The trembling increased.

His hands moved quickly behind him, working the blade he had on the rope tying his legs together. He had been at it for a while now, the blade was a bit dull but he was trying his best.

A relieved smile crossed his lips as the rope came apart. He turned his attention to the guy with the gun ready to let him taste lead. It had to be timed perfectly, if not, he would die for sure.

"Oh well," the boss drawled, obviously bored. "Sayonara."

Just before the gun fired, he got up dashing to the left so that he was almost behind them. A smile crossed his lips as he thought he would survive. Before he could take another step, he stilled then fell to the ground in a blooded heap thanks to the quick shooting of the other two guys that was there.

Four stray bullets whizzed past the guy and towards where Allen and Ryuu hid, embedded themselves in Allen's left arm. He screamed out in pain, tears welled up in his eyes as the pain grasped him.

'_It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!'_ He repeated over and over in his head as his blood gushed out, staining his white shirt and Ryuu's face.

"Allen-nii?" Ryuu mouthed against his hand. He was afraid because there was so much sticky red stuff flowing from Allen's hand and he didn't know what was causing it.

"What was that noise?" the boss yelled, turning to the direction where Allen is located.

Allen still had his hand over Ryuu's mouth, hoping they'd just leave, but when he heard the boss yell "Go search there by that pile of garbage," he felt all of the hope die. He had to make a choice, it was either both of them die, which was something Allen wouldn't let happen to Ryuu. No matter what, he'd help Ryuu escape. He smiled slightly despite the pain. _'That's an easy choice…'_

"Ryuu, I want you to follow this path around here," he pointed to a narrow passage to their left, "you remember it right?" he asked removing his hand from Ryuu's mouth.

"Uh-huh." Ryuu replied with a small nod.

"Remember that fence…with the hole?" his breaths were getting harder to take. "I want you to go through there and…run home, okay?"

"But…but what about Allen-nii?"

"I'll be fine," Allen replied as his vision became blurred. "Make sure you run and don't stop…until you reach home…"

Ryuu started to cry.

"It's okay, I'll be fine," Allen repeated in a way to reassure the younger boy. "Please Ryuu... go now…"

Ryuu was hesitant but he got up, before he did what Allen told him to, he leaned forward, giving Allen a sloppy kiss on his lips.

"Ryuu loves Allen-nii," was all he said, then he ran as fast as he could to the fence where the hole was.

Allen smiled sadly with his fingers tracing his lips. _'I'm sorry Ryuu…' _In order to get the attention away from Ryuu he kicked the pile of pans before him. They fell down bringing all the attention to him.

"Oh what do we have here?" the boss smiled as he saw Allen's blooded state. "A sneaky brat who got caught eavesdropping."

Allen grunted, his vision fading from the loss of blood.

"Boys, hand me my Sheryl," the boss smirked as Allen struggled to get up in a feeble attempt to escape them.

Allen staggered back once he was on his feet.

***Bang***

A shot fired, hitting him right in his left eye. His body fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He felt paralyzed, not even a scream passed his lips.

"Boss, let's leave him," one of the guys yelled.

"The cops are on our trails," the other added.

The boss smirked, seemingly to himself, everything around him was painted in his favorite colour. He felt proud of his handiwork.

"Two dead, no torture involved but somehow I'm satisfied," he replied before looking into Allen's slowly dying eye. "Tough luck brat, you were at the wrong place at the wrong time," he chuckled. "Say hello to your maker for me."

With that said, they left disappearing into the cover of the night.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"Where in god's name are those boys!" a female voice cried, her dark purple eyes gleaming in rage and worry.

"Calm down Lenalee, I'm sure they're fine," a fatherly voice cooed.

Lenalee shook her head, her two pigtails swaying on each side.

"Komui nii-san, they're late! Allen would never have the boys out this late!" she sobbed, worry lacing her entire being.

Komui felt his heart quake just seeing his sister in that state.

"It's okay Lenalee, I'm sure they are just playing somewhere," he tried his best to comfort his little sister, even though he couldn't help but feel that something had no doubt gone wrong.

"Komui oji-can…Lenalee oba-chan."

Both turned to the tiny voice calling to them; there they saw a small child no older than three with short pink hair that fell down around her head. She held a small patched up teddy bear in her right hand while in her left she had a dull pink patched up blanket.

"Kuu-chan, what are you doing up?" Lenalee asked; a smile immediately in place. "Come on, let's get you back to bed right away."

"Where's daddy?" Kuu looked around. "And Mira-nii and Kira-nii and Ryuu-nii?"

Lenalee tried to keep her smile in place as she answered Kuu.

"They are still out playing, sweetie come on let's go to bed."

Suddenly Kuu burst into tears.

"No!" she cried. "Kuu-chan had a scary dream! Daddy always made the scary dream go away! I want daddy!"

Lenalee stooped down and held Kuu in her arms in a comforting way.

"Hush little Kuu-chan, it's okay everything will be alright. It was just a dream," she cooed rubbing Kuu's back in a comforting way.

Kuu hiccupped, and her tears began to lessen. Just then, the door burst open with Mira and Kira rushing in.

"Komui oji-san!"

Relief washed over Lenalee's features when she saw them, but that soon died when she saw their ruffled and anxious state and also the fact that Ryuu and Allen were not with them.

"Boys, what is the matter? Why are you so late?" Komui asked as soon as the boys caught their breaths. "Where are Ryuu and Allen?"

"The police!" Mira yelled in a rush.

"Call the police!" Kira added.

"Police? Why? What is going on?" Komui demanded. _'This cannot be good…'_

Both started talking at once, making everything sound confusing and hard to understand.

"Boys! Boys!" Komui called trying to get their attention, once he had it, he sighed. "Calm down you two, just take a deep breath and tell me why I need to call the police."

Both boys took deep breaths then spoke. In their own symmetrical way they told Komui what happened, about the hide and seek game, how Allen found them and the scared look on his face when he told them to run home.

"Sharks…" was all Komui said after he heard what they had to say. "Oh no," he sobbed. "The boys…"

"Nii-san!" Lenalee called, she let go of Kuu and stood up. "We have to find them; I'll go down to the station right away!"

Komui's eyes were grave.

"Lenalee...there is nothing the police can do…"

"What do you mean by that nii-san?" Lenalee asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Are you saying we must sit here and do nothing while we let two of our family members die?"

Komui stayed silent.

"Well?" Lenalee demanded.

"Where's daddy?"

Lenalee froze as Kuu came up to stand beside her. She tried her best to look as calm as her worry-induced mind would let her.

"He'll be back soon, okay?" she assured. "I promise."

Kuu smiled, she knew her daddy will come back really soon because her oba-chan, Lenalee. promised and Lenalee oba-chan always kept her promises.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

The air around him felt cold, lining thickly with the scent of blood. It made him want to puke, but for some strange reason, he didn't feel any pain. He just felt cold and numb as if he was dropped into the Antarctic Ocean…ice cold and freezing.

'_So cold…' _the feeling was unreal. _'Is this what death is like?'_ He shuddered to think that. Dying…his one good eye watered at the thought. _'I don't want to die.'_

"Another mess ***sigh*** time to clean up," a deep voice muttered in annoyance.

Allen stared towards where the voice came from. There he saw a figure strangely shrouded in darkness. It wore a hooded robe that hid his face from view and in his hands he held a large scary – but enchanting – looking scythe. To anyone he would look like a Shinigami.

The Shinigami-look-alike raised his scythe, instantly the souls of all the people who laid dead before him rose out of their bodies and flew to him. Using the scythe, he slashed their souls in half sending then to their rightful place. Allen's eye widened at what he saw. _'Will this happen to me too?'_ He wondered, not liking his soul being ripped in half on bit.

"Can you see me mortal?"

If Allen could feel his body or even move it a bit he would have screamed or trembled in fear at the deep voice.

"Ye..yeah…"

"Ah so you're not dead yet, but you'll be soon enough," the Shinigami replied, he sat his scythe down and sat before Allen. "Let's see... you have about four minutes top before you kick the bucket, I guess I can wait."

'_Kick the bucket?'_ Allen felt terrified. He looked at the Shinigami his eyes pleading.

"…I do…n't want…to…die," his voice was hoarse.

"Everyone always says that," the Shinigami shrugged. "But it's better if you die now, you're young; you'll keep your youth."

Allen tried to shake his head, but realized he couldn't move. He felt strained and restricted…his heartbeat began to slow down.

"Ah it's time for the final stages," the Shinigami voiced out loud. "Poor kid, dying slowly is painful isn't it?" his voice took on a playful edge; it was a sickly cheery tone. "Ah before you die, tell me your name, I may come to visit you on the other side."

Allen didn't know why but he was compelled to tell the death god his name even if he didn't have the strength to.

"…All…en…Wal…ker."

"Walker?" there was a weird sort of cheer in the Shinigami's voice. _'Perfect.'_ "A member of the Walker family huh, interesting, very interesting."

Allen's heartbeat started to fade as time begun to run out on him. The four minutes that he had before already became less than a minute.

The Shinigami seemed to smile as he counted his good luck. _'A Walker descendant, how perfect can this get? He will be able to succeed where others have failed. After all, vampire slaying is in his blood_._'_ He turned to face Allen.

…20…19…18…17…

"Tell you what mortal, I'll make a deal with you," he began, an eerie air surround him. "I will postpone your death, stop it even so that you can continue living, but in return you must do something for me."

….9…8…7….6…..5….

"What do you say, Allen Walker?"

…4….3….2…

"Ye…s."

The Shinigami grabbed his hood and pulled it back revealing his gruesomely rotted skull-face. Once his face was revealed, it was like all the time stopped. He took up his scythe and slashed over Allen cutting a string of invisible chains that paralyzed him.

"I will grant you your life, Allen Walker, and bestow upon you a great power to assist you in your mission."

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

No one could sleep, not until they were positive that Allen and Ryuu were alright. It had been roughly twenty three minutes since the twins came back.

All five of them sat in the living room, waiting. Kuu stayed up too as she wanted to make sure that her daddy came back to her. She was about to nod off to sleep but the sound of the door being opened made her eyes stayed open.

"Daddy!" she yelled running to the front door with Lenalee, Komui, Mira and Kira close behind her.

The person at the door turned out to be Ryuu. Lenalee screamed when she saw his blooded state.

"Ryuu! Oh my god Ryuu!" she ran to him, fussing over his appearance. "Where does it hurt? Oh my, so much blood!"

"Ryuu doesn't hurt," Ryuu cried. "The red stuff came from Allen-nii's hand when Allen-nii hid Ryuu from the loud noise."

Lenalee felt as if she would faint after she heard what Ryuu had said. _'Allen…Allen got shot?'_ Tears welled up in her eyes. _'Allen…'_

"Ryuu…where is Allen?"

Ryuu cried as he told them what happened. How Allen told him to run and how he stayed back to make sure that he got away. When he was finished, Lenalee burst into tears. She fell to the floor, sobbing wildly. Komui had his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way as he tried to hold back his tears. The twins held each other as they sobbed quietly, not wanting anyone to know they were crying. Kuu however had no idea what was going on, so she walked up to Lenalee to find out.

"Lenalee oba-chan. Is daddy coming back?" her voice was an innocent inquiry. "And why is Ryuu-nii so red?"

Lenalee continued to cry as she held Kuu close to her, all the while whispering 'I'm sorry' over and over. Kuu was about to ask why she was apologizing but then it hit her. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes as she wailed, the severity of the situation finally sinking in.

Lenalee broke her promise, her daddy wasn't coming back.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"Mission?" Allen asked, the air no longer felt as stifling as it was before. "What mission?"

"The deal you made for your life," the skull face seemed to smile, "consider it a mission."

Allen nodded; well he tried to, but only managed to make his head twitch slightly. Now that he wasn't dying, the pain was slightly coming back, the pleasant numbness was almost gone.

"Your mission is simple. I want you to exterminate a certain monster for me," the grin he had appeared unnatural. "I want you to slay the vampire lord."

'_Vampires? They exist?'_

"Yes vampires exist, they are just good at blending in with you clueless mortals," he chuckled. "They are stronger than most demons and require special weapons to deal with them."

"If they blend in with humans…how will I tell them apart?" Allen asked, trying to keep his grasp on consciousness even though the pain threatened to knock him out.

"I'll give you a present along with your weapon," the Shinigami raised his scythe and with it he made a perfectly aimed slash at Allen's left eye.

Allen screamed when the steel blade came in contact with his left eye. He could feel the blade cutting into the muscle, ripping it in two.

"Calm down, it shouldn't hurt so much," the Shinigami teased although he knew that it definitely does hurt a lot. "Here, take this and fulfil the requirement, after you have slain the vampire lord you will be free to return to your family, until then you must not show yourself to them." He took a green cross like gem from his robes, embedding it in Allen's unresponsive left arm.

"What is this?" Allen gasped, his strength suddenly coming back and the pain dying down as if the green gem was taking in all the hurt from his body.

"It's called Innocence," the Shinigami replied, putting his hood back on. "It is an anti-demon weapon. This should help you greatly in slaying the vampire lord," he then pointed to Allen's left eye. "That present I gave you is a curse. It will allow you to sense when a vampire is near," he chuckled. "Killing them or not is up to you."

Allen nodded, understanding the hidden message. He was thankful to the creature…– God? – before him. After all, he was only alive now because of it.

"I'll take my leave now," the Shinigami said after a while. "I will keep in touch with you when I'm not busy," with that said he vanished, bringing motion back to time.

Allen laid still on the ground, no longer feeling cold. He felt strangely warm as if he wasn't just shot in his left eye and arm, as if he hadn't just made a deal with a death god to save his life. Oddly, it didn't feel like he did any of that. He felt like he was lying somewhere warm and he didn't want to move.

He blinked as something wet dripped to his face. Looking up he saw that the sky was dark with no form of stars in sight. _'Rain?'_ It started down in a light drizzle then it increased falling heavier.

'_Time to go I guess,'_ Allen got up; he staggered a little when he got to his feet but managed to regain his balance. _'Now what should I do?'_ All he wanted to do was to go home _'But I can't do that…'_

He walked aimlessly around the dump hoping that something came to mind. His left eye was still closed shut, clamped together by dried blood. He was anxious to see how his eyes healed, as he couldn't feel the bullets that pierced his eye or arms. Speaking of arms…he never did check out how that weird gem on his arm looked.

A gasp sounded from his lips at what he saw, his hand looked reddish and shrivelled with black fingernails. While the green cross shape gem glowed, standing out in the middle of his back hand. It looked inhumane and monstrous, indeed a weapon to slay monsters.

He pulled up his shirt to see how far the reddish skin stretched to, but after rolling it up to his elbows and still seeing red shrivelled flesh he figured it might take up his whole hand.

Rain continued to pour but Allen didn't mind as the rain was calm and cleansing as it washed him clean of his own blood. He continued on with his slow pace, almost jumping in shock when he glanced over to his left seeing a boy around his age with white hair. _'Wow a kid with white hair, cool.'_ he found himself thinking.

He wanted to say something to him but he voted against it. _'The kid will find out himself,' _he shrugged, no sense worrying the kid about the two dead guys a few walks back, might scare him or he might think he did it. I mean he _did_ have blood all over him. _'But so does that white haired kid….'_ wait a second; he turned to face the boy only to see that the boy turned to face him too.

'_Wait a minute…don't tell me!'_ he brought his hand up to his soaked hair which fell around his left eye, when the boy followed he almost freaked.

"That's me?" he yelled pointing to the boy which turned out to be his reflection on a sort of mirror. "What happened to my hair?" his eyes widened. "My eyes! It's gray!"

Allen felt…he didn't know how he felt but one thing was for sure; he had a feeling that no one would be able to recognize him. With his light brown hair and eyes now a snowy white and gray. _'How did this happen?'_

The words the Shinigami spoke before echoed in his head.

'The present I gave you is a curse.'

'_So my hair and eye colour is a side effect of this so called curse.'_ It wasn't as if he was complaining but he would have liked it to be something less out of the ordinary.

He pulled his soaked bangs back, then used his shirt sleeve to wipe the blood from his left eye. Once all the blood was gone he gasped. _'Man I've been doing that a lot,'_ he groaned in annoyance.

'_I'm a literal freak show now,'_ he sighed tracing the scar like red lines that marred the left side of his face. He lifted his hair more, looking at where the scar started, _'Yep a literal freak show,'_ he thought after seeing the reciprocal pentagon, but that wouldn't get him down. He smiled shrugging everything off as nothing. If he spent time dwelling on the bad things in life, he'd never get anywhere. It was better to push it back and forget it or just suck it up – as it won't change – and move on with your life.

He had been doing the latter all his life. His poker face never seemed to grow weary and he never got tired of seeing it or showing it to others. It helped to hide everything bad he had been through – which was a lot – not to mention being the second oldest male at the orphanage, he had a duty to take over when Komui wasn't there.

'_The kids…I wonder if they're alright…'_

He was about to continue walking but a low shuffling noise forced him to stop. His left eye reacted; the gray almost purplish hue became black while rings of red encircled it._ 'What the-? What's going on?'_ he didn't know why his eye transformed, even so he begun to look around. He saw a purplish aura among a pile of garbage near some bushed area. He hurried over there but saw no one.

'_I was sure…'_ he didn't get to finish that thought as someone attacked him from behind. _'Ouch that hurts,'_ he muttered to himself, face down in the mud.

"Oi! That hurt, you know!" Allen complained as he got up.

An amused voice filled the air.

"What a pleasant surprise, a human," the voice purred.

Allen's head instantly perked up, _'Is that a vampire?'_ from the looks of things, it was a vampire, meaning: _'My first fight!'_ somehow Allen felt calm and anxious. He was just ready to strike at any minute._ 'Why do I feel this way?'_ he wondered, it was as if something buried deep inside him had awakened and was willing and rearing to fight.

He stretched his left arm before him – an instinct – instantly it transformed into a large metal like claw. Though it was a bit strange he was not one bit perturbed by the transformation.

"Oooh a slayer on top of it! My, my, my, this must be my lucky day," the vampire rushed forward. "Slayer's blood is always irresistible!"

Allen stood his ground waiting for the fight to come to him, a strategy his late father taught him. He was no stranger to fighting, as he could hold his ground against the toughest opponents and not be tired to fight another one afterwards. Thanks to his amazing stamina and agility, he remained undefeated in the ring – Allen did street fighting for money – so fighting vampires was the same to him. The only difference was that you can kill vampires.

With both eyes closed he waited, his hand twitched slightly. Suddenly he spun around and launched his hand forward, piercing into the vampire's chest._ 'This was too easy,'_ the vampire turned to dust instantly, leaving his clothes behind. Allen dropped his hand as it and his left eye returned to normal.

"The rain stopped…" he whispered to the sky.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"Oi brat, watch it!'

"Sorry!" Allen apologized as he passed the drunkard. He gripped the large black jacket – which he took from the dead vampire – tightly and left quickly. _'Gosh only drunkards are up at this time,' _he complained as he walked down the street. His pace quickened when he felt that familiar air surround him. _'Just a few blocks more.'_

His pulse quickened when he stopped in front of a decent-sized old house with the sign 'Lee's Orphanage' a little above the front door. The house was old and small, not something seven people could fit to live in. Allen felt his heart pound as he stood before the old building, memories flooding his mind.

"I want daddy!"

He looked up when he heard the familiar voice. _'Kuu?'_ His eyes stung with sadness. _'How can I stay away from her?'_ He – with as much stealth as he could muster – sneaked up to one of the low windows at the front of the house. Rain started to fall heavier than before.

"Lenalee oba-chan lied!" Kuu continued crying. "You lied! Daddy is…daddy is…" Tears continued to flow. "I want daddy!" she screamed.

"Kuu-chan, please calm down," Allen heard Komui cooed, trying to calm the crying child. "I'm sure Allen is alright…I'm sure…"

"No you're not!" Kuu yelled, "Ryuu not hurting and the red stuff is from daddy!" she yelled. "When a lot of red stuff come out, something bad happens!"

Allen's heart clenched at Kuu's hurt state. _'I'm sorry,'_ tears threatened to fall from his eyes. _'I'll make it up to you when I get back.'_ He moved away from the window and out into the rain.

The shift at the window caught Kuu's attention.

'_Daddy?'_ she thought pushing away from Lenalee's embrace. "Daddy!" her shout was heard from outside as Allen paused in his tracks.

He turned just as the door burst open and a puffy-eyed Kuu stood at the doorway, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

"Daddy!" she repeated a broad smile on her lips. _'Daddy is back!'_ she wanted to run out to him but Allen raised his hand stopping her for doing that.

He turned to face her with a smile in place. Kuu was at first surprised by his appearance but that was only short-lived. Her daddy was back and that was all that mattered. The smile however made her eyes water more, she understood what it meant. It would be hard to do but she managed to do it. She smiled in return, indicating that she understood what was expected of her. That she should be strong as it wasn't the end.

That was all Allen needed. His heart felt lighter and he was positive at what needed to be done. Now he could leave without any worry. With one last glance at the house he called his home for three years; he left, disappearing into the night.

"Kuu! What are you doing outside? It's raining, please get in," Komui fussed, running outside to her. "Kuu?" he asked when he didn't get a response, he was about to touch her when she turned to face him, literally beaming.

"Komui oji-chan, it's raining we need to get inside," she said passing him.

Komui stood paralyzed to his spot. It was like he was dealing with another Allen. _'She already learned how to mask her emotions?'_ he sighed following the seemingly happy Kuu.

Kuu continued smiling no matter how much it hurt for her to do it; it was her job to make everyone happy now that her daddy was busy with something. She can't act like a cry baby and worry everyone. In order to be strong she needed to hide all her pain, that was what her daddy taught her. She wanted to be strong so that when her daddy came back, he would be proud of her.

She nodded to herself as her eyes trailed back to where she last saw her daddy. It was heartbreaking, but she would see him again. The smile he gave her said it all, it was a promise she would keep in her heart forever.

'_Don't be sad Kuu-chan, we'll meet again. I promise.'_

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

Allen cursed; he had been doing that a lot lately, he figured as he trembled from the cold. He looked around the abandoned warehouse that he's been taking refuge in. Three words could sum up the place.

A. Complete. Dump.

He sighed again. Why was he here in this crappy place filled with gods-know-what, freezing his ass off – his belly growled – and starving to death?

Oh yeah, he made a deal with a corpse…well a talking corpse, anyway it was still a corpse Shinigami or not. He didn't even consider the circumstances or certain aspects of the deal like:

How was he to live? Food and shelter wise, if he couldn't go home. Man he was starving!

What was he to wear? Seriously, he had been in his bloodied shirt for hours now! He felt grimy and really uncomfortable. Damn he really needed a clean change of clothes!

And the most important thing there was to consider. Yep you guessed it:

How the hell – yeah seriously how the hell – was he to find that damned vampire lord? The man could be half way across the world for all he knew.

'_Maybe it's a weird dream and I'll wake up soon.'_ If it wasn't for the fact that he was living and breathing now, with an anti-demon weapon as his left arm and a curse to his left eye…and that he could very much feel pain – yep he wasn't dreaming this – he'd think it was all a dream or one sick joke. He sighed again, life seriously sucked.

***Boom***

Allen got up from his place on the ground _'What the-'_ Another explosion sounded, completely nabbing Allen's attention. _'This can't be good.' _Instead of running away like any normal person would do – not that he was normal – Allen upped for running towards the source of the explosion.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"Die."

Before the guy could grasp what happened, a sleek katana blade ran right through him. He groaned briefly before exploding into dust.

The guy who stabbed him swiftly flashed his sword, ridding it of the vile blood that tainted its blade. He turned to face the other monsters before him, a crocked smile in place while a sadistic gleam appeared in his deep cobalt eyes, turning it a darker shade.

"Who's next?" his sardonic smile morphed into a smirk.

The creatures glared at him, baring their fangs and claws at the bold man who so dare to slay their own. One person stepped out of the ring to face the man. His eyes were glazed over in hunger and bloodlust.

"Your blood calls to me," he purred, eyes drenched crimson due to his intense bloodlust. "I must have it now!"

He dashed after the man, his claws barely scratching his cheek.

"Tch pathetic."

His sword pierced through the moron that so boldly attacked him, rendering him motionless as he promptly turned to dust. A smug smile crossed his lips as he dodged an attack that was directed to his right. He easily side-stepped the vampire and cut him down before leaping into the air when another tried to attack his legs.

He flipped twice aerially and landed on his feet. Just as his feet touched the ground, he bent back dodging another attack. With that momentum; he bent back further and touched the ground with both hands and did a back flip to land once again on his feet. _'Ch' they're getting good.'_ He mused as his high ponytail broke loose, long raven hair fanned over his back. _'But not good enough.'_

"Kaichuu Ichigen!" he slashed forward as if cutting the air. A portal of some sort appeared, bringing with it a swarm of weird shaped silver bugs with glowing scarlet eyes. They launch themselves at the vampires surrounding their master, piercing anyone that came too close.

While the raven was preoccupied with annihilating anything before him, a vampire took the opportunity to sneak up behind. Taking advantage of his inattentive state he used his claws to pierce forward, but stopped as something embedded itself in his back.

The raven sensed the attack and looked back in order to take the stupid vampire out, but once he turned around the vampire turned to dust. He was briefly confused at what happened, but that confusion turned to shock as his eyes widen a fraction. When he saw Allen it caused the tears that he kept hidden for years threatened to fall.

'_Lavi…?'_

Though Allen had white hair and silver/gray eyes, the person the raven saw had messy fiery red hair and one visual emerald green eye as the other was covered by an eye patch and he was smiling with so much childish glee. That smile was something that was forever etched into his memory. It was so dazzling yet heartbreaking at the same time. He was mesmerized all over again.

Those lips he knew all too well parted to say something but he was still frozen stiff to respond. A hand – that he had grown to know as talented due to previous experiences – blurred across his vision, as if they were trying to get his attention. And lastly the blood, so alive and rich – definitely that of a human – called out to him. Binding his, begging him to indulge in that sinful taste once more as it has been decades since he last had mortal blood.

The call was too strong to resist and he found himself walking towards Allen. He embraced him, his head resting on the junction between Allen's neck and his shoulder bone while his hands gripped the front of Allen's damp bloodstained white shirt.

Luscious blood whispered to him sweetly, lulling him in a trance-like state. He opened his mouth, revealing his piercing white fangs which shook, eager to be sunk into that pale neck. The need was too great, he wanted to taste him…he needed to.

Allen shivered when he felt the stranger's tongue lapping at his neck. The languid muscle was cold, causing his body to shiver. He wasn't sure but he felt really excited, after all a vampire was about to drink his blood…he suddenly froze, his mind going blank. _'A vampire is about to drink my blood!'_

Both fear and excitement ran throughout his entire being when he felt the tip of the vampire's fangs ran across his neck without breaking his skin. He was sure the guy would bite soon as he seemed really hungry. _'I should kill him,'_ but somehow he couldn't.

Still caught up in a blood lust haze, the guy failed to see that it wasn't the redhead he was about to bite. If he did he would have stopped. His fangs itched to pierce into that soft patch of skin and his tongue yearned to have blood – live blood – but that hope and the trance-like state he was in shattered when the sound of something falling caught both their attention.

'_Shit!'_ the raven cursed as he pushed Allen away from him. _'What the hell was I thinking?'_

Allen fell to the ground with a loud thud, his backside stung painfully from the hard fall. He couldn't believe it! That vampire pushed him off like he was some rag doll! _'What, wasn't I good enough for you to feed from?'_ A growl resonated in his throat, he was pissed!

"Oi! That's no way to treat someone who saved your life!" he protested. "You know I have half the mind to…" his voice trailed off when he looked up to see who it was and boy did he get a shocker, the person before him was beyond beautiful! Sure he got a glimpse of him before, but now that he was actually looking, he felt speechless.

The guy on the other hand was annoyed that he came on to a brat. _'What is a human kid doing here?'_ his eyes narrowed when he saw Allen's left hand. _'A slayer…tch another problem.'_

"I'd get out of here if I were you," he said sheathing his sword. "This place will be swarmed by level twos in a few minutes."

His voice however snapped Allen out of his shock state. _'Level twos?'_

"Ah…really?" Allen replied, trying his best to snap out of the infatuated state he found himself in. "But how would you know?"

"Instincts," the guy replied before disappearing into the night.

Allen was caught by surprise at his sudden departure as there were a lot of questions he wanted to ask. For one he wanted to know why a vampire like him was killing those of his kind. Sure, Allen would occasionally kill one or two vampires – but only if they attacked first and if the situation called for it – but it seemed that the long haired beauty attacked the group of vampires that lived here. _'Maybe it was some sort of a grudge?'_ he shrugged. _'Makes no sense__. If__ I try to acknowledge it, it'll only make my head hurt.'_ After all he had more pressing issues to attend to. Like where was he going to stay now that he had to get out of the rundown warehouse that he temporarily called his home.

"Am I this bad lucked?" he groaned, wanting nothing more than to pull every stand of hair from his head. He was about to sigh again when he was interrupted by a familiar deep voice.

"How have you been doing Allen Walker?"

Allen jumped in shock as the Shinigami's voice echoed somewhere behind him. He appeared as if out of nowhere.

"What the hell?" Allen shouted, completely freaked out beyond words.

After making sure that his heart rate was normal again he turned to glare at the creature that appeared out of nowhere before him.

"How was the first night of your revival?" the Shinigami asked, not one bit perturbed by Allen's glare.

"It was pure crap," Allen replied, his glare intensified. "You left me clueless for this so called mission. The least you could tell me is the vampire lord's name or yeah, where he lives!"

"Ah, my apologies," the Shinigami was amused. _'Playing with this mortal is fun.'_ "I guess I forgot to tell you the important details, how silly of me."

"More like stupid," Allen muttered under his breath. "Now tell me. I know I made a deal with you and all, but could you at least let me go home to take a shower, get a change of clothing and eat?"

The answer from the Shinigami was swift and simple.

"No."

"Why?" Allen groaned, he really needed a shower, damn it!

"I'll arrange something for you," he handed Allen a piece of paper. "Go to the house with that address, tell the person there that the Earl sent you."

'_The Earl?'_ Allen wondered who that person was.

"Um. Okay," he took the sheet of paper. "So after I tell them who sent me, then what?"

"Think of it as a place for you to stay when you are going through your mission."

"What? Why didn't you mention that before?" Allen yelled, completely annoyed that the stupid Shinigami didn't tell him another important point. "Are you trying to make the job harder so that I'll fail?"

At this the Shinigami chuckled.

"You will not fail, or else you will die," Allen cringed at the word die. "Your fear of death will drive you to succeed."

"Whatever you say," Allen shrugged it off as nothing. "So do you have any information for me about the vampire lord?"

"Yes."

"Let's hear it," Allen prodded.

"The current vampire lord is Kanda Yuu, the only son of the previous vampire lord and lady Kanda Yokan and Kanda Mairuu," the Shinigami began, "but beware, he has the appearance of a beautiful young man. Try not to get bewitched, okay?"

"There's not a man alive that can hope to bind me with their appearance," that was a lie and Allen knew it, he was mesmerized on-spot by that vampire he protected a while ago. Never in his life had he seen someone as perfect and dazzling as him.

He couldn't say his beauty was due to his vampire genes because he'd seen a couple of other vampires and none of them appealed to him the way that particular long-haired vampire did. He had never been so excited in years – save for the time when he glimpsed at some porn – but that was months ago, so therefore that didn't count. Besides they were naked and scantily dressed so they were bound to appeal to him. The raven-haired guy was fully clothed – the only skin he could see was from his face, everything else was covered – and he appealed to him more than any of the naked girls did.

"Hello, anyone in there?"

Allen snapped out of his thoughts.

"Hehe…yeah so ah, you were saying?" he cleared his throat. "So the person I'm after is Kanda Yuu…that name sound foreign."

"It is, Kanda Yuu is Japanese," the Shinigami replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Japanese?" Allen asked; he was sure he was hearing things.

"Yes Japanese as in from Japan."

Allen's face immediately fell.

"All the way in Japan?" to say Allen was surprised was an understatement. "Japan is way out of reach! Where do you think we are? We're in England!"

The Shinigami chuckled. _'The kid has a point.'_ Japan was really far away. _'Oh well,'_ he shrugged.

"That would be true if you had to go to Japan," he plainly stated. "Have you heard of 'Nightmare Castle'?"

"Yeah," Allen raked his mind for its location. "Ah, isn't that the creepy looking mansion on the outskirts of town?" If he remembered correctly it was a weird constructed house, it pretty much stood out on that high hill not to mention it looked _extra_ creepy at night.

"That, my friend is where the vampire lord lives."

Allen couldn't believe it. The person was that close?

"Seriously?"

"Yes, now get going. The quicker you finish, the closer you are to your freedom," the Shinigami turned to leave. "I have high hopes for you, Allen Walker."

Allen nodded, glad he was finally going to get some action. He looked at the paper the Shinigami gave him. _'This place isn't far from here,'_ a smile crossed his lips. _'Maybe my luck is getting better.'_ his smile widened. _'With my new found luck__,__ I just might slay that vampire lord with no trouble and return home by tomorrow.'_

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"_At approximately four twenty five this morning__,__ two bodies were found at the city dump by a passerby. The time of death is estimated at ten forty three last night. Both bodies are identified as Kevin Benson and Reggie Talbot both alleged to be members of the infamous Shark gang. Multiple gunshot wounds seemed to be the cause of death. That is all for now, we'll be awaiting further develo–….wait, this just in; it seems that there was a third body. Eye witness at the scene claimed to have seen a corpse of a young boy before it mysteriously disappeared. It is unsure why the man hadn't reported the case last night, but according to the police on scene__,__ there is a mass of blood that does not belong to either body. The police are working on identifying the owner of the third blood; results will take two to three weeks for analysis. On other n–"_

Lenalee turned the radio off. She couldn't listen to it anymore; it was too hard to bear, not to mention Allen hadn't made it back yet. Worry etched her features as she tried to concentrate on making breakfast.

She couldn't sleep at all and was up all night waiting for Allen to sneak in – like he sometimes did with little bruises and cuts on his face from his little side job, of course she knew he was street fighting – so that she could chew him out for staying out late but then hug him for coming back safely.

"Allen…" just saying the name alone caused her eyes to water. _'Please just come back…'_

If the third person turned out to be Allen she didn't know what she would do.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

Allen blinked as he tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness. _'Huh? Where am I?'_ Everything was a blur, he had no idea what had happened…his eyes widened and he sat up as quickly as he could. The covers rolled down, revealing his naked body.

"Ah, now I remember."

How could he forget, he went to the place that Shinigami told him about, only to find out that it was some duke's mansion. He felt stupid, here he was dirty and starving and he was about to go up to a duke's house? They would think he was a beggar or something.

He decided to leave, but then he saw someone. A guy with thick curly brunette hair wearing a pair of thick circular glasses, he asked him why he was there and like the gullible idiot he was; he told him. The guy then nodded and told him to follow him. He was about to tell the guy that they would not make it past the gate but the guy just smiled. You could only imagine his surprise when the guards bowed to the messily dressed man and addressed him as 'Lord Mykk'. The guy turned out to be Tyki Mykk, the duke of the house, and he welcomed Allen with open arms. So now here he was in one of the duke's guest room, sleeping…well not anymore but yeah you get it.

"You awake, shounen?"

Allen turned towards the door; there Tyki Mykk stood looking first-rate in his well polished black suit staring at him with his piercing amber gold eyes. He was about to reply when he heard a high pitch squeal. Before he knew it, a young girl ran into the room and attached herself to him. She was about to kiss him on his lips when Allen turned his head and she ended up kissing his right cheek.

"That won't work on me twice Road," Allen said easing the young girl off him. "You only got me yesterday because I didn't expect it." _'Yeah who'd expect that the person who you're staying with__'s__ niece would run up to you, hug you and kiss you on your lips?'_ he shivered at the memory of their encounter yesterday.

Road pouted with her hands across her chest.

"But you liked it right?" her golden eyes sparkled with hope.

"Like I said, I never expected it," Allen sighed, "I don't make it a habit to go around kissing kids on the mouth _'Well…I did kiss Ryuu…'_ sorry come back to check on me in a few years. Better yet when you're a boy," he added the last part so that the poor kid wouldn't get any ideas.

"Ah Allen, you're so mean!" Road pouted, she was about to add something else when Tyki place a hand on her head.

"No bothering the guest, Road," he ruffled her hair. "The count gave him an important job; he can't be distracted right now."

"Okay…" she whined. "But when he's finished, we'll get married!"

'_Don't hold your breath for that,'_ Allen thought holding back a shudder.

"Well now that you're up, let's get you fed," Tyki said grabbing Allen out of his thoughts. He looked down and smirked. "And some clothes too."

Allen blushed and brought the sheets up to hide his manly pride, he heard Road sigh in disappointment and was sure she was staring at his privates.

"You two are too weird," he sighed.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

"So…" Allen began, his tone set in a way to get everyone's attention. Tyki and Road raised their head from their meal to look at him. "I can't help but wonder who you two are. I mean, you just take in a temporarily homeless kid like that one death god's whim. By the way are you two–"

"Yep," Road replied cheerily as if she was reading his mind, she placed a spoonful of jello in her mouth. "The count is a part of our family."

"Family?" Allen wanted to know more, but somehow everything was beginning to seem eerie, almost supernatural and weird. He was already deep in, being a person who's been revived and all. Thanks to this experience, he would never see things as normal anymore. "You are related to a Shinigami? If you don't want to elaborate more that's okay, it's not my business to begin with," he shrugged.

Tyki smiled and shrugged too, it made no sense uprooting something that would require a lot of explanation. Besides, they didn't have the time for that now, Allen needed to leave in a few minutes. Maybe he'd indulge Allen with the whole story when he got back. _'If he gets back,'_ for all he knew Allen might end up dead. _'That sword wielding cutie isn't one to hold back after all.'_

"Tyki, what time is Allen leaving?" Road asked, her spoon hanging from her mouth as she spoke. "I want to play a little before he leaves," she winked suggestively at Allen.

Allen fork fell from his hand at what Road implied. _'No thanks__,__ kid__.__ I'm not into young girls,'_ he took up his fork and quickly devoured his meal – plate after plate – ignoring the looks Road gave him.

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

The shadow of a person swished across the dimly lit hall, his slim hand ran up to his face as he panted, seemingly out of breath. His eyes bled scarlet and his body shook from excitement or pain – it was hard to tell – one thing though was plainly obvious. The hunger he felt was clearly shown. His body ached to be fed but he refused to let it. He refused to partake in his needs and hunger; he refused to take the blood of a mortal. If he did, he would feel as if he was replacing 'him'.

He cursed himself for being so sentimental and for not being able to forget that redhead over the decades that passed. Sure he had been his first friend and the one who taught him how to use his body in ways that he'd never imagine. A blush crept up his cheeks at what they used to do together and all the techniques he was taught.

'_Damn__, t__hat Lavi was a freaking pervert!'_ but even though he was, he loved him just the same.

It seriously puzzled him, the fact that he was so attached to a mere human. He, who was born of the most powerful vampires that ever lived, fell for a human who was suppose to be food. He didn't understand why but somehow, he didn't care. All he wanted now was to fill the gaping hole in his chest, and the intense hunger gnawing at his insides.

"Tch, I need a drink."

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

Having packed what was needed for his mission, Allen got ready to set out. He had a name and a location, all that's left is for him to take the vampire lord out.

"Thanks for everything."

Tyki gave him a small smile.

"No prob, it's our job after all," he replied and with one last pat on Allen's back, he made his way back inside. "Good luck, shounen."

Allen nodded and buttoned his black jacket, he took up the suitcase of necessities that Tyki's maids packed for him and left the mansion – luckily before Road noticed that he was leaving – refreshed and eager to fulfil his mission.

His gaze rose upwards towards the night sky, a smile tugged his lips.

'_I'll finish this and come home soon,'_ he grinned as he walked out the front gates. _'Wait for me everyone__,__ I'll be back really soon.'_

x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x ~ X ~ x ~ x

**To be continued…**

A/N: This was taking a really long time to finish….no lie I started this what last year August? And I realized that it's almost 30 pages, so I decided to split it in two. The second part will be ready as soon as I type it up. Well as you might notice, there hasn't been a decent and proper meeting between our two lovely personnel, Allen and Kanda, but believe me, there will be in the second part! So like I said in the beginning, um excuses…:

My computer crashed (taking with it most of what I wrote)

Felt discouraged cause all I written before was gone.

No beta…(my grammar sux) someone plz be my beta pretty plz *begs*

Was beyond lazy…I know…

Plot bunnies for other stories…(they just won't leave me alone!)

Well after the depression stage, I sucked it up and wrote over some different stuff…so I hope you all stay with me and stuff…until next time I guess! R&R onegai!

Ja na!

Kaos


	2. Part Two

Disclaimer: …still don't own…and it still sucks…

Warnings: shounen ai, slight smut, blood, gore, talks of death, language, OOC-ness, vampires, angst, fluff, unbeta'd (is that even a word?).

A/N: So the next part! Sorry to all those who waited _so_ long for this! But thank you all for reading, reviewing and what not! Kaos-sensei luvs when ya'll do that hehe. And guess what? It's longer than part one! By over 6300 words! And OMG it's my Bday today! Yay!

Ok aura colours:

Vampire lord: bluish black

Vampires: blue

Humans: white

Fallen level vampires:

Level 1: purple

Level 2: yellow

Level 3: orange

Level 4: red

Enjoy!

* * *

Part Two

A pained scream echoed in the night followed by low sucking sounds. Two figures – one crouched over the other – hid in the corner of an alley, both hidden from sight by the pitch black darkness. The one who was on the ground gave one final shake then became motionless, promptly turning into dust in the other man's hands.

The raven haired man looked up; his fierce cobalt eyes now a deep pool of crimson. He licked the blood from his lips as his eyes scanned the area more thoroughly.

"…still…" he began, a primitive aura surrounded him. "…hungry," without warning he launched forward.

Another scream ripped through the night's air as he sunk his fangs into the neck of another victim. This one fought violently to the end, and during the struggle blood spilled all over his attacker. After a while he too became motionless and met the same fate as his attacker's previous victim.

Once the vampire in his clutches became dust, he straightened up and wiped the blood from his lips using the back of his hand. The red disappeared from his eyes, bringing it back to its dark navy colour. He gave a deep guttural growl when he realized the state he was in. Blood soaked through his clothes and he was surrounded by vampire corpses. And from the looks of things they were mostly level threes and fours. _'Ch' how much did I lose myself and kill?'_ He wasn't really concerned about killing fallen level vampires; after all it was his job. At least he wasn't killing humans. His only concern was accidentally killing vampires who still maintained their sanity and haven't fallen as yet. They were the ones that he avoided during his bloodlust, and humans.

"I need a bath," he growled to no one in particular and with a swish of his long cape, he disappeared into the dark night.

"Wow, that castle or whatever it is is huge!" Allen marveled, his eyes going wide at the large building on the small hill before him. "I wonder how it'll look up close."

He crept closer using his amazing stealth skills – something that was like second nature to him – and found that the building was not Victorian styled, or like any building he had ever seen before. The origin of the architecture was lost to him. Even so, he slinked his way to what he thought led to the back of the building so that he could slip in undetected. He managed to come up to a door – at least he thought it was one – as it slid open rather than being pushed or pulled open. It confused him, that there wasn't a knob attached to the door. _'If that's how the rest of the house is, I'll never get used to it.'_

Once he was inside he activated his left eye – he found a way to control its activation –and looked around. He spotted a fierce bright black/blue aura close to the left from where he stood. _'He's the only one here,_' he guessed as he didn't spot any other auras. _'Alright, he's,' _his cursed eye focused on the target's aura, _'down this hall, turn right and then left and he should be in the room after that.'_

Excitement flooded into his veins as he crept closer to where the aura shone vibrantly. When he got closer he saw that there was something else to the aura. It had a mix of red and orange. The two colours surrounded the bluish black aura in small amounts for awhile, before they disappeared. _'Weird,'_ he shrugged before resuming to his task. He stepped quietly towards the door, making an effort not to make a sound. Once he was before the door, he immediately slid it open and hurried in.

A rush of hot steam was the first to hit his face. _'Huh, steam?'_ he looked around and saw that he was outside and right before him was an outdoor bath. _'More like a hot spring.' _He was surprised and intrigued by the sudden turn of events, but that was the least of his worries now. There was no sign of the person who owned the bluish black aura; it seemed as if the person just disappeared. He was about to stomp his foot in frustration when his body froze up. A shiver ran up his spine that had nothing to do with fear.

"You're three millenniums too early to sneak up on me brat," came the familiar voice of the person who took his breath away. To Allen the person seemed to whisper in his ear.

'_What is he doing here?' _that was the only thing that was running through Allen's mind. He barely acknowledged the blade propped under his chin that was getting dangerously closer by the second.

'_It's him! That slayer from before,'_ the long haired youth growled in his mind. _'I don't have fucking time for an assassin now.'_

"That freak corpse sent you, didn't he?" he asked in a huff.

Allen's pale eyes widened in shock.

"You're Yuu Kanda, the vampire lord?"

Kanda snorted.

"You sneak into my house and you didn't do the proper research?" he wanted to kick the idiot for his apparent stupidity. "So what did you plan on doing, eh? Sneak around until you found someone and ask them who I was? You'd be killed first moron."

Allen felt his face heat up at the comment. It was not that he didn't know how to find the vampire lord. Tyki already told him how to identify him by his aura. _"Only the lord of the damned possesses a bluish black aura."_ So it wasn't as if he didn't know. He was just shocked that person he sort of liked turned out to be someone he must kill. _'It's too bad he's that lord…I really liked him too.'_

Without warning Allen stooped down then rolled over to Kanda's left. He got up and put some distance between them before turning to face Kanda with a smile in place.

"I'm sorry that it has to come to this but I must kill you," his bright smile wavered for a second. "It's a shame, I really like you too," he pointed his claw-like hand forward. "Please don't hate me, if it were any other circumstances we might have been friends." _'Or even more…'_ his mind provided.

Kanda growled, that smile was really annoying him, he just wanted to wipe it clean off. _'Friends? Ch' like I need those.'_ It went against the rules, but he couldn't help it if he sort of 'accidentally' killed the overly smiley moyashi and just as 'accidentally' drained his mortal body of its blood. He knew it sounded preposterous but he couldn't let the boy before him live. If he did things would just get more complicated.

"You," he pointed forward to Allen, "will kill me?" he pointed to himself and smirked. "Keep dreaming," he waved his right hand dismissively and the steam cleared.

Allen almost had a nose bleed when he saw that Kanda stood before him in nothing but a small flimsy towel that was tied to his waist. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. _'Oh damn, his body is perfect!_' he shook his head harder.

"That's playing dirty," he managed to say.

Kanda stared at him blankly, not quiet understanding what he meant.

"Anyway, don't blame me when you die," he dashed forward with his sword in hand and attempted to cut Allen in half from his waist, but Allen dodged by bending back on his hands and flipped a few feet back when Kanda brought his sword down once again.

Once Allen landed on his feet he activated his innocence, which was a lot different than it was before. Previously it was just a silver claw with a green cross like gem in the middle, but now it evolved into a metal like claw that was smaller than its prior size. The green cross like gem in the middle became a silver cross.

"My name is Allen Walker by the way," Allen extended his left arm out and gave a low bow, which pissed Kanda off ever more. "Shall we start?"

"Cocky human," Kanda growled, he placed two fingers – index and middle – on the dark blade of his sword that was closer to the hilt. "Battou," his fingertips glowed and he trailed it along the blade of the sword until it reached the tip. As he did that the dark dull blade of the sword changed to a sharp silver blade.

Allen stood there marveling at the elegance of the man before him. Has there ever been anyone this perfect? He knew that no one would or could ever hope to compare to the elegance and beauty of this vampire god. Kanda was in a league of his own, or maybe it was all vampires in general. Somehow he never thought so. He'd fought a few vampires and none of them could ever compare to Kanda's beauty. He gave a remorseful sigh, it kind of sucked that he had to kill him though.

'_Pay attention to the fight and not the hot vampire,'_ he scolded himself. One slip up and that hot vampire might hack him to pieces.

He closed his eyes and relaxed his body while he waited for Kanda to make the first move. It did no good if he charged in recklessly. That would only guarantee a swifter death on his part.

Kanda however gave a smirk before he disappeared. Allen kept his whole body alert as he waited for the attack hat would surely come. He stooped down, effectively dodging a thrust; he then raised his hand to block another attack.

Once he got back on his feet he pushed forward to knock Kanda back. Kanda staggered a bit before he flipped back dodging Allen's metal-like claw. He landed on his feet perfectly and dashed forward trading blows with Allen. They slashed and swiped at each other, each trying their best to bring the other down. The loud sounds of metal clanging against metal echoed in the midst of the night.

Kanda was annoyed. It never took him this long to disarm a stupid human and knock them out, and yet here he was still fighting the brat. The kid must have some experience in fighting to be able to keep up like that. _'Ch' this sucks.'_ The slayer had such a strong body that Kanda couldn't help the thought that rushed into his head. His face flushed crimson and he quickly brushed the stray thought off.

Allen saw the blush and was intrigued. He never knew vampires could blush. Weren't they like walking corpses or something like that? So shouldn't they lack the normal bodily functions of a normal human? _'Aw but he looks so cute when he blushes,'_ he figured if he said that out loud he would be dead.

The fight continued, each person showing no sign of relenting anytime soon. Kanda attacked with calculated and precise strikes. He made sure that his attacks would hit his target where he wanted them to. But that damned moyashi kept evading and blocking his attacks, and it was getting frustrating! It wasn't as if he wanted to kill him – he tried to convince himself of that – he just needed to knock him out so that he could erase his memories. That way he could save the kid from ever feeling that he owed the stupid corpse anything, and if all went well he could recover that piece of stolen innocence and recruit a new slayer for their side. _'Damn I'm thinking way too much into it. I should be more pissed, after all the brat snuck into my home and wants to kill me!'_ With new found rage Kanda jumped back then used his Kaichuu Ichigen attack. _'Maybe this will scare the kid a bit.'_

Allen saw the deformed bugs and remained calm. Though any normal person would be scared he wasn't. _'I've returned from the dead, no stupid looking big eyed bug is gonna scare me.'_ He dodged all the bugs that attacked; some disappeared into the air while some others returned to attack again. The last remaining bugs were few of the strongest and Allen found out that they weren't going to disappear by just dodging them. He reached out his left hand and attacked them. They disappeared but one remained and that one was in his blind spot. The bug launched forward and Allen turned just in time to see it. _'Shit, I won't make it in time,'_ he closed his eyes and waited for the pain but nothing happened.

"What the?" he looked down and saw that the bug was in his chest but he didn't feel anything. The bug kept swimming in his body before it gave up and disappeared. He turned to look at Kanda in mild confusion. "What the hell?"

Kanda snorted. "Innocence attacks can't hurt humans."

Allen looked at him in confusion. "Then why bother use it?" _'Wait did he say innocence?'_

"I thought it would scare you, just like it did the other idiots," Kanda growled, he couldn't believe that they were having a conversation. "They ran around like a bunch of morons before they knocked themselves out on some random solid surface. Aren't you a human like them?"

Allen blanched. "Don't put me in the same group as those idiots."

That was an insult in his mind. He wasn't some idiotic moron who was easy to lose his focus and make a complete fool of himself. There was nothing that could knock him off balance and made him lose sight of what he must do. He decided to go on the offensive; he'd been blocking and wasting too much time. Plus the fight had gone on for too long, not like how he planned it. He wanted to make a swift and quick kill, as he didn't want the poor vampire to suffer. After all he was the one who invaded the vampire's home to kill him, might as well make it as quick and painless as possible.

Kanda stood his ground to block the attack that was coming his way. He too wanted the fight to end but if he used his full strength he might end up killing the brat. And that wasn't an option. How would he explain the dead body – that would remain – to the elder who should be there any minute now? _'Shoot I almost forgot about that…'_ he really needed to wrap it up; if the elder came and saw a slayer attacking their lord…he'd get scolded – him not the slayer.

He adjusted Mugen in his hands and shifted his weight to his legs. _'I need to put an end to this,'_ and with that in mind he stepped forward…but stopped as he felt something sliding down his waist to his legs. To his astonishment, the towel that hid his privates from view slid off. It suffered some of the slashes and attacks Allen raged on him and finally fell apart. A coat of pink dusted his cheeks at his embarrassment and he tried to hide his flustered state with bravado.

Allen however didn't fare so well. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the towel fall off those slim hips. His face burned red and his mind couldn't help the perverted thoughts that ran throughout it one after the other at a fast rate. He felt blood dripping down from his nose and was surprised that he was suffering from a massive nose-bleed.

At the scent of blood Kanda's eyes instantaneously bled to red. The vampire blood he consumed before seemed to drain from his body leaving him completely _starved_. His mind went blank and the intense hunger immediately took over. He couldn't control his body movements and in an instant he found himself before Allen.

Allen clamped his hand over his nose to stop the blood flow but that wasn't helping. _'Oh my god, his body is beyond perfect!'_ The image of the vampire's perfect pale body ran over and over in his mind. It excited him and made him really, _really_ hard. He couldn't believe how hard he was. Sure he was half hard during the fight but he expected it to deflate by now. Too bad it didn't…god he needed a good lay. He was brought out of his perverted thoughts by a burning sensation near his right shoulder.

A purr like moan poured itself out from Allen's lips at the burning feeling. He felt pleasure thrum throughout his body as the lips that latched on to his neck began sucking. It felt incredible; he never thought that having his blood sucked would have been such a pleasurable experience. Pleasure ran through his body like wildfire, lighting his desires and bringing them to the surface. The initial pain was gone and replaced with such a wondrous feeling. He felt that he wouldn't mind drowning himself in it.

Kanda's body hummed in appreciation as blood poured into his mouth. It was rich, so pure and undeniably _alive_ and oh god the taste, it was like heaven to his taste buds. He couldn't believe he was missing out on such a delight. It had been _years_ since he had the pleasure of indulging himself in such a delicious substance and his body wasn't wasting the opportunity. He continued sucking; replenishing his body with the favorable meal he was presented with. All form of reasoning left his mind and only the need to drink remained.

The pleasure eventually died and the pain returned with a vengeance. Allen felt weak and drained, but the vampire wouldn't stop drinking. He was losing blood at a fast rate and due to that his skin was becoming paler and paler by the minute. _'Shit…I've got to stop him. If this continues…I might die.'_ The thought scared him, he didn't want to die…but he could even move his arms. They both were limp at his sides while the vampire held him in his arms and devoured his neck. His anti-demon weapon had deactivated due to his lack of strength, which made fighting back futile.

Kanda reached the point where it would only take a few more sucks to guarantee the death of the mortal in his grasp. He was about to, but then he felt a binding spell surrounding him. It trapped him on spot and restricted his movements. Only a few were strong enough to do that. With his body now frozen his mind took it as a chance to take back control of his body, and banished the bloodlust to the furthest corners of his mind. He turned his attention to the new comer in the room. The hooded black cape that the person wore blocked their features from view.

"Kanda-sama, you almost killed that mortal," a female voice murmured. She brought her hood down revealing short midnight hair and piercing black eyes that seemed to run over into the sclera. With a modest smile she walked forward handing Kanda a crimson robe.

Kanda released his hold on Allen – to take the robe and put it on – and he fell to the ground like a log. He cursed when he heard the body fall with a barely audible thunk. _'Shit, how much blood did I take?'_

"From what I can tell, that mortal will die soon," the girl continued. "He has lost a considerable amount of blood and humans can not survive with so little."

"I know that," Kanda growled. Shit how could he be so damn out of control! He should have been able to keep his bloodlust in check, but he managed to drain a mortal almost dry. That had never happened before. Even when human blood was spilled before him; he never lost his reason and consumed any. Something must be wrong, and he was sure the stupid moyashi was to blame. "Azalea, check his body."

Azalea gave a curt nod then laid her pitch black eyes on the pale human before her. They glowed brightly for a span of a few seconds before returning to their original shade. A gasp passed her lips at what she discovered. _'No wonder my lord couldn't resist.'_

"Kanda-sama, how did his blood taste?" she inquired. "Did it taste like your previous half, or better?"

Kanda didn't want to remember Lavi at a time like this, but from what Azalea asked he couldn't help but think. The blood had tasted superb, not like how Lavi's was. Lavi's blood had a tangy and exotic taste to it but the blood he just consumed…there was nothing he could use to describe it. He had felt intense hunger before and Lavi's blood had quelled it but when he died the hunger returned tenfold. Now he could feel that hole closing and his hunger sedated.

"It tasted different. Almost like his…but almost…better…" he replied unsure of how to describe it.

Azalea nodded. "Then I was right. Kanda-sama I've checked his soul and it has a striking resemblance to that of your previous half."

Cobalt eyes widened in shock at what was said. _'Similar soul? Could it mean?'_

"Does this mean…what I think it means?" he didn't want to sound too hopeful, but he couldn't help if it came across that way. It was the one thing he had been waiting for to happen.

"I think so," Azalea replied with a nod. "That person may be Lavi's reincarnation."

That was all Kanda wanted to hear. _'Lavi…'_

"Let's not celebrate too early my lord. He is dying," she reminded. "I will try to help him but Kanda-sama I need you to stab his heart with Mugen. There is poison in his body, the kind that our dear Earl makes to bind souls to do his bidden."

Kanda nodded and walked forward, he stooped down before he ran Mugen straight into Allen's heart. Sure it didn't do anything to his body, because as he said before: innocence didn't hurt humans. The steely silver blade of Mugen turned gold as it sucked the poison out of Allen's body. Once Kanda was sure all drop of it was removed; he got up and left Azalea to do her work.

She stooped down and reached out to the bite wound but an unknown force shocked her. _'Ow, what the hell?'_ she tried again only to receive the same treatment, but this time a sort of force field came up and blew her back.

"Azalea! What is going on?" Kanda demanded; she needed to save him. It was Lavi damn it! She had to save him!

"Something is blocking me from healing him…" Azalea replied. "I won't be able to do anything; my spirit energy can not make it past the barrier…" her voice trailed off when she looked back at Allen. "Kanda-sama! He's healing by himself." It surprised even her. "Can you feel it? His blood, it's returning bit by bit."

Kanda could feel it. The wounds on Allen's neck disappeared and he could feel vitality steadily returning to the pale boy. He didn't know how it happened and he didn't care, as long as his Lavi was saved. A warm glow from the innocence in Allen's arm brought both vampires' attention to it. It glowed a soothing green as it aided in healing and replenishing of the blood that was lost.

"Should innocence react that way?" he asked, his eyes locked on his Lavi before him. "I've never heard of such a thing happening."

"You father with the aid of the elders created the innocence to help stop the Earl," Azalea replied. "The innocence was created to be used by vampires to kill fallen level ones. That was its purpose; the Earl might have altered that piece of innocence and equipped it with healing attributes to aid humans in his quest for revenge." _'But what an amazing alteration, the Earl was a fine elder. Too bad his research geared towards the wrong purpose.'_

Hearing that bit of information made Kanda felt a little better. He decided he wouldn't feed from him right off the bat, but he'd keep him close. There was no way he would lose him like he did before. If it meant to keep him locked away in his castle till he dies, then so be it. He walked towards where Allen laid, and stooped down then rested his hand on his forehead. Surprisingly the force field didn't hinder him from coming closer. He could touch him like normal. So it seemed like the force field prevented other people other than Kanda from touching him. _'Lavi wouldn't do anything to hurt me.'_

"I will take care of him," he said, his dark eyes locked on the youth before him. "I will listen to what you have to say afterwards."

"Of course, Kanda-sama."

"_This is a special report. The police's science department has discovered the identity of the third body from the October 8__th__ murder. From the investigations carried out by the police department, it is confirmed that the missing body is that of Allen Walker who resides at Lee's Orphanage. The descriptions from eyewitnesses at the scene matched the young lad's description. Allen Walker has been missing for the past three and a half weeks and can now be pronounced as dead. The whereabouts of his body is still unknown and the search has been closed by the local police force. Condolence goes out to the family of Allen Walk –"_

Komui had to try to restrain his sister. Lenalee threw the radio off its stand in her grief. She kept on repeating 'it's not true, it's not true' over and over in a distressed voice as tears poured from her eyes. She didn't believe it, Allen couldn't be dead; he just couldn't!

"No I don't believe them! Allen is alive and out there waiting for us to find him!" she screamed as she struggled against Komui. "Let me go nii-san! He's out there and I'm going to find him!"

"Lenalee calm down, it's okay," Komui tried to calm her down. "He's gone…Allen is gone. Please just calm down. You're scaring the kids."

The twins and Ryuu were crying when they heard the news. Allen wasn't coming back and it was their fault. They blamed themselves for Allen not being able to come back. The twins felt even more racked with guilt than Ryuu, if they had just gone home when Allen suggested it…then Allen would be there with them now.

"Allen-nii is gone," they sniffed as snot ran down their noses. "It's our fault; if we didn't force Ryuu to play he'd be here now."

Komui turned to face the young ones. He had managed to calm Lenalee down and the hard truth had sunk in. Allen was dead and gone and no amount of wishing would bring him back to them…to her. She ran upstairs to her room and locked herself in, with only her tears as company.

"Boys, it is not your fault," Komui tried to comfort the younger ones. "Bad things happen sometimes. It's not your fault…please don't blame yourselves okay." Tears fell from his eyes. _'Oh Allen, you didn't deserve a death like that. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm so sorry…please, forgive me.'_

Kuu peeped out from the room she shared with Ryuu. She saw Komui bending down to hug the twins and Ryuu and all of them were crying. _'Why are they crying?'_ She didn't understand why they were so sad, her daddy was alright. He was just busy doing something at the moment. She was sure he would be back when he was done with what he was doing, that was why she wasn't sad.

Even when they dressed her in black and brought her to a huge place where they said her daddy would be staying. She wasn't sad because she knew that in that big empty treasure chest looking thing that they buried wasn't where her daddy was. He wasn't staying in that empty place with the stone looking things they called tombstones. Even if one had her daddy's name on it, he'd just correct them when he got back. _'Yup, daddy is gonna be mad at them for putting his name there.'_ She couldn't wait to see her daddy, as she missed him greatly. Maybe then everyone would stop saying that he was gone for good.

Kuu followed everyone home after the funeral. Everyone still cried once in a while but everything managed to get back to a semblance of normal. Lenalee became strict when it came to enforcing the curfew, as she didn't want an incident like what happened before to reoccur. Not that the twins or Ryuu ever broke it.

They continued on as if her daddy hadn't been there, as if he was really not coming back and she didn't like that. Not one bit.

His whole body felt numb, it wasn't the sort of numbness he felt when he almost died. It was a warmer feeling. He couldn't move but he felt safe and content where he was. _'Where am I?'_ Not that he minded staying immobile for a few more minutes; he was still confused as to what happened. _'Wait I was fighting the vampire lord…'_ A wave of panic flooded his system. _'No. Did I die?'_

Without warning he bolted right up in a sitting position. His unused muscles ached at the sudden movement. _'Wait I felt that. I'm not dead,'_ he sighed in relief. _'But where am I?'_

He looked around the large room. It felt familiar, yet at the same time it didn't. He saw that he lay on a low bed and that his clothes were replaced with a thin cloth-like robe that resembled the clothes the Asian's wore. _'My clothes and the stuff I got from Tyki are gone.'_ That was a bummer, now he'd have to sneak out and regroup then come back. He almost jumped in surprised when the door slid open and the hurried footprints of his prey rushed in.

"Lavi!" Kanda yelled, he stopped and cursed. _'Shit he doesn't remember his past life.'_

Allen went on guard when Kanda bolted in. They were still enemies and he didn't want to risk anything. He relaxed a bit when the words Kanda said echoed in his mind. _'Who is this Lavi?'_

"What happened?" he asked. "Let's say I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. Just tell me what you did while I was out. I feel like shit."

"I did nothing to you, baka moyashi," Kanda replied annoyed. _'I can't believe he has Lavi's soul.'_ "You should thank me for saving your life."

Allen blinked. "Eh? You saved my life?"

Kanda was sure something was up with the whole reincarnation thing.

"Maybe after all the years that passed his soul became stupider. I wonder if he even has Lavi's soul to begin with," he muttered in his native tongue.

Allen knew he didn't know any other language than English. So why did he understand that bout of gibberish that the hot vampire sprouted? It was like his heart – or perhaps it was his soul – that understood the words.

"I'm sure it isn't any of my business, but who is this Lavi person?" he asked. Kanda had been saying that name constantly. "And the person that has his soul, who is it?"

Kanda looked at him dumbfounded. _'I was sure I spoke in Japanese…'_

"You can understand what I'm saying?" he asked in Japanese.

"Ah yeah, I can," Allen replied surprised that he was using the same language as the vampire lord. "It's weird but I can understand it and wow I can speak it too, even though I've never heard that language till now."

Kanda needed no more reason to doubt that Allen had Lavi's soul. Lavi was a bookman and because of that he was educated in various languages. For Allen to just speak a language that was unknown to him so flawlessly; he was sure his soul was authentic.

"You really do have Lavi's soul," he murmured softly. "You've finally come back to me…"

Allen froze up. _'Hey, wait, stop. What the heck?'_

"I have this Lavi's person soul?" they were back to using English. "Wait a sec, what do you mean I've 'come back to you'?"

There must have been some mix-up. Sure he had this strong urge to not kill the man before him when they were fighting, but his resolve to live outweighed that. Ok so maybe that made him sound a bit like a coward, but he didn't care. He didn't want to die. Dying terrified him and after being in that situation before; he wasn't eager to go down that road again. But he was sure he didn't have the soul of this Lavi person, despite what that Kanda person said. _'I'm me and no one else.'_

Kanda though didn't expect that he would go through something like this. He expected that after he found Lavi's reincarnation, the person would awake as the past Lavi. He would apologize for what he did and they would live happily ever after until that Lavi's death. Then the whole cycle would start all over again. But that _moyashi_ that had Lavi's soul was driving him nuts! He wasn't sure he'd survive another minute without wanting to kill him.

"I appreciate your help and all," Allen's voice brought Kanda out of his thoughts. "But I still have to kill you. That thing saved me and I owe it a debt. I don't want to die."

"_I don't want to die Yuu…"_

The words echoed in Kanda's mind. He remembered the last words Lavi gasped out when he was so closed to dying. Lavi didn't want to die that was why Kanda did what he did back then. Kanda had tried to save him and had ended up killing him instead. He always regretted that he couldn't save Lavi and now he was paying for it. _'If he can kill me I'll let it happen.'_

"You don't want to die?" he asked in a low tone. "Then will killing me save your life?"

Allen blinked. _'What is he getting at?'_

"I will allow you to kill me," Kanda replied. "But that is if you can. You will stay here at my home as long as it takes and are free to attack me anytime. In return I must have your blood whenever I am in need of it."

Gray eyes continued to blink in shock. Kanda was allowing him to live at his place just so he could kill him? And all he needed was to trade his blood in return? Was this some sort of a trap? Or did Kanda really want to die. _'Probably by his 'Lavi's' hands.'_ Somehow when he thought that it made him feel somewhat irritated.

"Do we have a deal?" Kanda asked.

'_It's not like it's going its get any better.'_

"Well ah sure, deal."

Allen felt as if he was getting too used to his new life, and that scared him. It had been a month now since he woke up and since he was out for three weeks prior that, it meant that he was with Kanda for nearly two months. He hadn't sent any word to the orphanage and he was worrying about everyone there. _'They must be worried sick by now.'_

He really wanted to see them but he didn't know what the Shinigami would do if he did. But that didn't mean that he hadn't written a letter everyday since he woke up. If he could just get them to a post office maybe then he would have some luck in getting them to his family. _'I could ask Kanda to deliver them for me.'_ His face heated up when he thought of Kanda.

During his stay, Kanda fed from him only twice and for both times he would always see something. The visions he saw were always in first person and they always involved him seeing Kanda drinking blood from him while they – his blush intensified – had sex. Sure he thought it was some fabricated illusion. But in the last vision – of him coming inside of Kanda – he had seen his reflection and he was a redhead with green eyes. After seeing that he was sure it wasn't him or a fabricated illusion. He told Azalea – who he met on the second day – and she told him they were his past memories of when he was 'Lavi'.

She was the 'all seeing elder' therefore what she said was basically the truth. But he couldn't wrap his mind around seeing himself as someone else doing _that_ with Kanda. It felt as if he was watching Kanda have sex with someone else, as the person didn't seem like him. They might share the same soul but it wasn't _him_.

"Ah I'm done," he stretched and then he folded the letter. "I'll go give Kanda another sneak attack. Who knows maybe I'll be successful this time."

He got up after he placed the letter in another envelope and threw it in the pile where the others were. _'I should get those mailed real soon…'_ he really wanted to see everyone again. It had been almost two months now and he was way over due. _'I want to find another way out of this, I don't want to kill Kanda but I have to.'_

With a sigh he exited the room on his search for the raven haired vampire.

Kanda could smell that familiar enticing blood, it was so close…

He ducked dodging one of Allen's pathetic attacks, but Allen was expecting that. He redoubled his efforts and dropped to his knees and kicked his foot out, sweeping Kanda's feet from under him. Kanda never expected that and fell to the ground on his back. Allen seeing his chance raised his left hand and was about to plunge it into Kanda's chest but stopped when he felt a blade brushing against his abdomen.

"Ah I give!" he groaned in annoyance as he deactivated his innocence. "You win again."

Kanda got off the ground and sheathed his Mugen. He stared at Allen, who had grown a bit in the past weeks. Though he was no where as tall as Lavi was; he was still growing. After all Allen was just fifteen and he was with Lavi until he was eighteen.

"You're making unnecessary movements," he scolded. "Do you really want to kill me and save your pathetic life?"

For someone who was the one to be killed he sure was taking his life likely.

"Damn I am concentrating," Allen groaned in frustration. He really was trying damn it, but it was just that when he wanted to go in for the kill something always stopped him. Like a weird feeling telling him not to kill Kanda. "Do you really want to die that bad? I wouldn't be as calm as you; I'd be fighting for my life."

Kanda snorted. "I've seen enough of this pathetic world. I may not look it but I'm centuries old."

'_Ok so I have the hots for an old guy,' _Allen thought. _"Wait if he is centuries old, when did he meet Lavi?'_

Sure he was intrigued about whom he was in his past life but yet again he wasn't. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know who he was before. Kanda might try to compare them. _'As if he wasn't doing that already.'_

"That old huh," Allen mused. "It must be good to be able to live that long."

"_Ne Yuu, if you turn me into one of your kind, we could be together forever.'_

Kanda tried to block the memory from his mind. He did not want to recall anything thing from the past. They just made his old wounds ache. _'I didn't want to condemn you to my life. I'm sorry Lavi.'_

"…nda…"

A hand waved across his vision.

"Kanda!"

He blinked.

"Oi don't blank out on me," Allen complained with a slight pout of his lips. "You already don't breathe. Its way creepy and you just look dead."

Kanda snorted. "Whatever," he sniffed Allen as there was something mixing with his blood. "Are you writing something? There is an ink scent all over you."

"Ah yeah," Allen grinned at him. "I'm writing some letters to my family."

"Oh," Kanda didn't understand, why write letters when he could just visit them? "Why don't you just visit them?"

Allen blinked. Was it that simple?

"Well I still have a deal to keep up with the guy who wants you dead," Allen paused. He didn't quite get the reason as to why this 'Earl' person wanted Kanda dead. "Why does he want you dead Kanda?"

Kanda shrugged. "Who knows?"

"I would," Azalea's voice chimed in. she materialized in front of Kanda and gave a slight bow. "Kanda-sama," she turned to Allen. "Hello Allen."

"Azalea, what brings you here?" Allen asked. Azalea never showed up unless she had something important to talk to Kanda about.

"I'm here to inform Kanda-sama of our dear Earl's movement," she replied.

"The Shinigami?"

"He is no Shinigami," Azalea replied curtly. She still didn't take well to how mortals easily believed that fraud was her father. "He is just a busybody elder vampire who got banished."

"Banished?" Allen inquired. Who knew maybe he was fighting on the wrong side? If there even was a 'right side' to begin with.

"He created those fallen level monsters by using vampires and the soul of mortals," Azalea continued. "And that is a crime in our law. He wanted to create the perfect vampires and the elders believed that he succeeded." She reached into her pouch that she had strapped over her cloak to take out a small note book. "One of our exorcists encountered one and died in battle."

"Who was it?" Kanda demanded.

"Daisya Barry."

Kanda was silent for a while and Allen wondered if he knew that person.

"These perfect vampires are known as Noah and are characterized by their gray skin tone, yellow/gold eyes, and they posses a horizontal line of seven cross-shaped stigmata referred to as holy marks on their forehead," Azalea continued. She noticed the shock expression Allen wore but chose not to comment on it…yet. "There is said to be thirteen of them in all. The slayers and exorcists – vampires who slay – are on the move, watching out for any suspicious movement. We've decided to keep a close watch on you since you are his target, my lord."

"Why is Kanda his target?" Allen asked that was something he wanted to know.

"Kanda-sama is directly descended from pureblood royalty, therefore his blood has certain properties," Azalea replied. "Not only was the Earl banished for his wrong doings, a curse was placed upon him. This curse prevented him from consuming the blood of mortals and vampires alike and the only way to break the curse is to kill the vampire lord and drain his blood."

'_I guess that explains why he looked like a skeleton.'_

"If that is left to happen, the Earl's power would be restored and the whole world will feel his wrath," Azalea finished. "We are trying to prevent that from happening. You see the Earl cannot directly attack Kanda-sama that is why he sends humans. Some of the humans he sends normally join our side and the other's memories are erased and they are returned to society."

"Wait so you're telling me I'm not the first one he sent?" Allen kind of figured that but still, he felt as if he was a puppet. "And how long has Kanda been dealing with this?"

"Since his parents were murdered hundreds of years ago," Azalea replied. "Kanda-sama killed the perpetrator after he was named lord." _'It was a hard time for him…the Earl almost won too. It was a good thing Kanda-sama got rid of their bodies before he could make a move.'_

"Enough about that," Kanda snapped. "Was any innocence recovered?"

'_Innocence? Wasn't that something to be used against vampires?'_ Allen thought. _'He mentioned it in our first fight. That innocence attacks couldn't harm humans. Was he using innocence? No, that can't be…'_

"No, none of the ten innocence that was stolen was recovered," Azalea replied. "Well if you count the one Allen has, then one."

"Wait; isn't innocence used to kill vampires?" Allen asked. It wasn't called an anti-demon weapon for no reason.

"Do you see that sword that Kanda-sama uses," Azalea pointed towards Mugen. "It was created using innocence. The Innocence was created by Kanda-sama's father and the elders with the help of my father the _real_ Shinigami. It was created as a weapon to use against the Earl's monstrosities."

Allen blinked; things were getting way too supernatural for his liking. Ok _now _he was officially in too deep with no way out. Vampires created innocence to kill fallen level vampires and there was a vampire girl whose father is supposedly the _real_ Shinigami. It was official, nothing surprised him anymore.

"Allen, do you want me to deliver those letters for you?" Azalea asked in a light tone. "You've been meaning to send them for a while now; I can do that for you."

Kanda turned to face Allen. "It's not like I'm keeping you here for life. You can go and come back."

Everyone in that room knew that was a lie. The only way Allen could step one foot out that door was if he killed Kanda and that wasn't happening any time soon.

"I'll take you up on that offer," Allen replied. "I am still indebt to the 'Earl' and it included me not going home." He gave a sly smirk. "But he didn't saw I couldn't write."

Azalea gave a sly smirk of her own; her pitch black eyes making her look sinister. "Ah you found a loop hole." _'He is just like Lavi.'_

"Heh heh I guess I did," Allen replied with a smile. "Hey wait here I'll go get them."

He ran out the training room and heading down the corridor towards where his room – Lavi's old room – was.

"He seems almost like Lavi, yet not so quite," Azalea said after Allen's footsteps were far gone.

Kanda said nothing in reply.

"Kanda-sama, maybe you should deliver those letters for him," Azalea said after a while. "I will be busy."

Kanda's head snapped in her direction. "Then why did you bother to say that you would do it?"

Azalea gave a small chuckle. "So that I could get you to do it for me," she replied and then with a small bow she disappeared. "Good luck Kanda-sama."

Kanda was about groan in frustration when Allen came back in.

"Eh? Where's Azalea?" he asked. In his hands was big leather pouch that was no doubt filled with his letters. "I have them right here."

"Give them to me," Kanda said. "I'll take them."

"Wait, what about –"

"_I'll_ take them," Kanda insisted and Allen gave in.

It was easy to find the building where Allen lived. He followed the path up to where Allen told him. It was familiar, as he often took the same path when he visited Lavi. How weird was it that both persons lived in the same location. Maybe it was fate or just really freaky luck.

He blended perfectly in the night as the streets were slightly crowded, even though it was almost midnight. The air stunk of musk, sweat and sex. The stench hung heavily in the air in the area he just entered. He had to past London's most famous red-light district before he could reach the street where the orphanage was. _'Stupid humans and their filth.'_ The stench became more nauseating as he ventured deeper. He could smell the disease on most of them and it churned his stomach.

The blood around him smelt polluted and vile, so much different than Allen's. When Allen died he was sure he would give up on drinking mortal blood again. Their blood wouldn't appeal to him the way Allen's blood did and he didn't think his body would digest anyone's other than the owner of Lavi's soul. _'He'll probably manage to kill me before that. I won't be able to live if Lavi died again…'_

He gave a small curse. Shit there he went again, being sentimental. He was still attached to the redhead, but somehow it felt different. It felt as if he wasn't really seeing Lavi, but Allen; the white haired scaredy-cat of a slayer who was afraid to die. He thought it was preposterous but somehow it made the ache better. Whenever he thought of Lavi he always felt regret and sadness, but with Allen; he felt…frustration. Though he'd choose that any day over being all regretful all the time.

The end of the road came to sight and he gave a small sigh in relief when he left that part of town. He could smell some of his kind in the vicinity and when he passed those who were close they bowed in respect. Many of the nightwalkers were surprised at their lord's appearance. They were even more surprised when they saw a leather pouch around his lithe shoulders.

Kanda walked on, the orphanage was in plain sight and he just wanted to dump the letters and go home. He figured leaving the letters on the steps with no form of explanation would not be a good idea, but what other alternative did he have? It was after midnight and the place was an orphanage. Orphanages meant children and children meant that they would be asleep a long time ago. So no one would be awake.

"I should just leave it there," he was about to when a mixed scent filled the air. It smelt almost like a vampire's but it was closely mixed with a human's.

"You smell like daddy."

Kanda looked down to see a blob of pink standing before the opened door of the orphanage. She looked at him with big bright pink eyes. _'That kid, she's a dhampir.'_

"You smell like daddy," Kuu repeated. "Is daddy here?"

"Daddy?" Kanda repeated. _'I don't smell the moyashi's blood in her. He couldn't be her father.'_ "Who is that?"

Kuu's face puffed up as she tried to recall how her daddy looked the last time she saw him. "Daddy's rweally tall. Taller than Kuu-chanu and Ryuu-nii and Mira-nii and Kira-nii! And and daddy's eyes look white, hair too. Oh! And daddy havva red squiggly thing on his face right here." She pointed to her left eye.

'_Yup, it's the moyashi,'_ Kanda sighed. _'She must be an orphan that he took care of. They aren't blood-related.'_

"Oh, I know him," he replied. Somehow he felt he needed to talk to that girl, no matter how much he wanted to leave.

"Rweally! Where's daddy now?" Kuu was really excited. She knew her daddy wasn't gone like everyone was saying. "Kuu-chanu rweally miss daddy."

Kanda was about to answer but he stopped. He sniffed the air once again but it was the same. There was no active scent that indicated that Allen might have lived there. It was like everything that he might have owned was gone. There was something that he was sure he was missing.

"Kid, can you smell your daddy's scent in that house?" he asked.

Kuu's eyes begun to water. "Nuh uh," she shook her head. "Komui oji-chan gave away daddy's stuffies."

That intrigued Kanda. "Do you know why he did that?"

Kuu was now sniffling. "Komui oji-chan and everybody say daddy's not coming back," snot ran down her nose. "They say daddy's staying in that big box they put in a big hole." She wiped the tears and looked up at Kanda with hopeful pink eyes. "That not true, daddy's coming back ne?"

Kanda didn't know what to tell the little girl before him. _'He's dead to them? Shit how did that happen? That means they can't get the letters then. I can't even erase her memory…her vampire blood would prevent it. Damn it, what am I going to do now?'_

"Are you the only one who thinks he will come back?" he asked.

Kuu nodded vigorously.

'_There is only one thing I can do,'_ Kanda gave a sigh. _'That damn moyashi owes me.'_

"He will come back," once the words left his mouth Kuu's face lit up. "But I don't know how long it will take. It might be weeks, months….years. I'm not quite sure." Kuu's expression fell. "But I have some letters he wrote to all of you. I will collect them from him and come read them to you once a week, until he comes back."

Kuu was glad that her daddy was alright. She was right and everyone one else was wrong. Her daddy wasn't gone, he was going to come back and she couldn't wait to see him.

"All that from daddy?" her eyes brightened when she saw the large bag in Kanda's hands.

"Yes, do you want me to read them to you now?"

Kuu gave him a bright smile and a nod. She bent down to take up her blanket and teddy bear then closed the door. Kanda settled himself on the steps beside where Kuu sat. He took out the first letter and was about to read when Kuu asked him his name.

"It's Yuu Kanda," he replied. "And you?" he didn't know why he was asking when it was obvious her name was 'Kuu' since she addressed herself by that name.

"Kuu Walker! Daddy named Kuu-chanu after him, nweat ne?" Kuu grinned.

Kanda nodded briefly then cleared his throat and started reading.

_October 30__th_

_Hey everyone,_

_Sorry that I uh kinda disappeared on short notice but rest assured I am alive and well. I'm just kinda caught up in something now. Please stop worrying Lenalee; it's not something that I can't handle. I can not tell you the immediate details, but I will make sure to finish up quickly so that I can see you all soon. I'm sorry for leaving everything to you Komui. When I get back I will accept my punishment._

_How are the kids? Did Ryuu, Mira and Kira make it back ok? Is Kuu alright? God I miss you all so bad…._

Kanda watched as Kuu's little chest rose and fell with her breathing. He had only gotten through seven of the letters before Kuu dozed off. She fell asleep on the steps and he didn't have the heart to leave her there. So he had scoped her up in his arms and brought her to the room he thought belonged to her room, and then tucked her into bed.

He wondered idly if Allen did that every night. If he tucked in the kids after reading them a bed time story, then after they were asleep he would leave. _'The people he's trying to get back to, I guess they needed him…but now he's dead to them. How would he feel about that?'_ He knew it would break Allen's heart.

His eyes trailed to the little boy in the next bed on the other side of the room. Tears trailed down his cherub round face. Kanda could tell the reason for his tears, he could tell the reason for all their tears. Their 'Allen' was dead. The salty stench lined thickly in the air and it made him a bit nauseated. Only Kuu, who knew the truth slept tearless, but because of that she would suffer the most heartache. She knew he was alive and would have to keep it a secret from everyone.

Kanda closed his eyes and willed him self out of the room. He couldn't bear staying there anymore; it was arousing a weird feeling inside of him. When he opened his eyes he was outside standing before an old cemetery. He knew what that feeling was, he was jealous. Allen was fighting to kill him so that he could get back to a family who thought he was dead. It wasn't fair. He didn't want to take Allen from those kids but…_'Why must he be the one with Lavi's soul…?'_

He walked aimlessly through the cemetery until he came up to a grave. There were fresh flowers on the grave that indicated that someone must have visited earlier in the day. The vibrant yellow tulips smelt pleasant to his sensitive nose. It wasn't too strong that it would irritate his heightened senses. The light fragrance calmed his senses so that he could think clearly. He sighed then lowered his dark eyes to take in the name on the grave.

Allen Walker

December 25, 1852 – October 8, 1867

`Gone too soon but not forgotten.´

The scenery was burnt into his mind. It reminded him of when he stood before Lavi's grave all those years ago. But this time he never felt that overwhelming remorse and pain, because this time the grave was empty. He was still alive.

"Eh? Kanda what took you so long?" Allen wanted a full report on what he saw. Sure Kanda went in the night so he might not have met anyone. But~ he stayed out for a long time and that must have meant that he ran into someone. "Did you meet anyone? Are they all ok?"

Kanda didn't know what to do. Should he tell Allen the truth and then have he run away and return to a family who might fear him? Or should he keep up the pretense and continue on with the original plan, so that he would stay even a bit longer.

"They're doing well," he replied with a shrug. "They miss you of course, but they will kick your ass when you get back."

Allen's face lit up considerably. "Ah so they do miss me huh? So they're not mad? Who did you talk to? Was it Komui or Lenalee? Hey did you meet the kids? The little girl Kuu is my daughter ya know."

He began asking question after question and Kanda replied with well calculated lies. Kanda found that lying left a bad taste in his mouth, but it was much better than telling the truth. If he told him the truth Allen would leave. If that was what it took to make Allen stay, he would continue to lie.

The years passed by quickly and it seemed to go unnoticed by Allen. He was really happy, so happy that he forgot completely about the Earl. Life was looking up for him and he was sure nothing would change that.

He smiled at his reflection in the mirror. The three years that passed had been very kind to him. He grew a couple of inches and was proud to say that he was now taller than Kanda. His muscles were more pronounced and well toned, and his face became more mature and handsome. He wasn't vain but even he could admit that he was drop dead gorgeous.

"I wonder what time Kuu will be coming over," his smile widened.

After having Kanda send messages back and forth to his family, one night he had surprised him by bringing Kuu home with him. She was overjoyed to see him and was crying while she held him, while he in turn was shocked but relieved to see her. Ever since then Kanda always brought Kuu back at least three times per week. They would play and talk and sometimes she would stay over. Kanda told him that Komui said it was alright if Kuu stayed over from time to time and he took his word for it.

He had decided to leave the orphanage in Komui's care a year back when he turned eighteen. From what Kanda mentioned, Komui and everyone were doing well. Though they missed him greatly they were glad that he was alright. Plus they were doing better than alright. The boys were adopted and a new set of orphans lived there now.

Ryuu was adopted by a renowned fashion designer and the twins were adopted by a famed play writer. The boys were doing well where they were and had started attending school. Everyone was doing well with their lives and they said he should too. They said he should concentrate on his own life and happiness.

'_I've always thought that I should be the one to protect everyone, but I guess they were able to take care of themselves all along.'_

"Maybe I should go get a job now," he mussed to himself. "I may be living with Kanda but I don't want to free load off him forever."

"Why would you bother to do that?" Kanda asked as he walked into the room. "It's not necessary."

Allen turned to face the raven haired beauty. Kanda still looked the same as he was three years ago; like an eighteen year old teenager. He was still beautiful and barely changed a bit. Allen wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He wouldn't want Kanda to look older than him, even if he really was centuries older. But it still brought to surface what Kanda really was. Vampires were lucky, they had immortality and youth.

Allen's expression suddenly became gloomy.

"Oi, moyashi what's the matter?" Kanda sensed the shift in moods.

"You're a vampire," Allen sighed.

"Yeah so?" Kanda couldn't quite see the point. He was a vampire so what? _'What about that is so sad?_ Realization finally dawned when he saw the fear in Allen's eyes. That fear was what bought them together three years ago. He had thought it had left but Allen still feared death. "Oh, ch' don't let that bother you."

"Yeah I guess," Allen walked up to Kanda and placed his hands on his shoulder. He loved the way Kanda's cheeks heated up from the contact. "But I just can't deal with it, knowing that everyone will be gone one day…and that I'll leave you."

"_I don't want to leave you, Yuu."_

Kanda could feel the sadness and fear radiating off Allen in waves. It was the same with Lavi; he had to try and erase that fear. He removed Allen's hands of his shoulders and rested his head on Allen's right shoulder.

"Don't think about depressing things like that," he murmured. "Just think about now, that what's important. The future can wait."

A small smile crossed Allen's lips and he wrapped his arms around Kanda. "Thank you."

Kanda blushed but didn't pull away from the embrace. He felt warm and content. Allen brought his hands up to cup Kanda's cheek then leaned in. Cobalt eyes hazed over in lust and a spot of red dusted the vampire's cheeks as he waited to be kissed. They were merely inches away from each other, when the sound of someone clearing their throat stopped them. Kanda's head snapped towards where the sound came from, and there he saw Azalea at the door with a slightly amused expression on her usually emotionally-stunted face.

"Am I interrupting something?" Azalea asked in an innocent tone.

At the sound of her voice Kanda snapped back to awareness. He pulled him self from Allen's hold and turned to face her. Allen gave a slight pout at being interrupted. _'Just when I was about to kiss him too.'_

"State your business," Kanda all but growled.

"Ah, to the point eh?" Azalea chuckled. "Well then excuse me Kanda-sama, but I was told to come fetch you. There is a meeting with all the elders and it requires the presence of our lord."

Kanda gave a curse. _'Already? Shit, this might take up the whole day and night.'_

"I can't attend," he said. "I have somewhere to be. Tell them to postpone it."

"Sorry my lord, no can do," Azalea replied. "It is of the utmost importance. My dad will be leaving the underworld to attend."

'_It's that important? Damn it I won't be able to attend that picnic Kuu was planning…'_

He gave a sigh. Kuu was looking forward to it. Three years ago on this very day was the day Allen supposed to have 'died.' She understood what it meant now and instead of celebrating his fake death; she wanted to celebrate his life. He was alive and that was what mattered.

"Apologize to Kuu for me," he said to Allen. "Tell her I'll bring a gift for her when I get back."

Allen nodded. "Don't fret so much. I'm sure Kuu will understand."

"Yeah," Kanda gave him a light peck on his lips. "I'll be back soon." His cheeks burned red in embarrassment at what he said and did.

"We'll be waiting," Allen replied with a small smile. "See you."

Kanda gave a small nod before he followed Azalea outside. They disappeared into thin air. The mansion felt empty and quiet after Kanda left. He had a few hours left before he had to meet Kuu and there was nothing to do. _'Maybe I'll go pick Kuu up early. I did promise Komui in my letters that I'd drop by for a visit, besides I want to start on Kuu's adoption documents.'_

Kuu was the only on that hadn't been adopted and he was planning on taking her in. He hadn't told Kanda what he planned as yet but he would soon. It wouldn't take much persuading as Kanda already adored Kuu. At least that was what he thought. _'Ah, it'll be just fine.'_ And with that in mind he left to go pick up Kuu, not knowing that with him leaving, he had made a mistake that he would regret with his life.

Allen followed the path that led towards his home town. It had been so long since he'd been there and he was marveled by all the changes. Everything looked so different and he barely recognized anything. _'Wow that much change in just a few years?'_ He muttered a 'good morning' to those who passed him, but they looked at him strangely before walking on their way. _'Ah, I guess my appearance is kind of intimidating.'_

He chuckled to himself but then paused as suddenly he felt very cold. The day was warm and sunny; therefore he shouldn't be feeling that cold. Sure it was early October but…the feeling felt familiar. There was a presence in the air and he knew who it was. A grim look took over his face as he walked over to a deserted alley-way. Immediately a dark aura seeped out of the ground and formed into the Earl.

"Allen Walker," the thing chuckled. "Long time no see."

Allen scoffed at it. "I wished it had been longer," he glared at the thing before him. "What do you want?"

"Ah Allen Walker you hurt me," the Earl said in a fake-hurt tone. "I thought we were friends."

"Cut to the chase you damned corpse!" Allen just wanted to get away from the thing before him. It reeked of death.

The Earl crossed his boney hands over his equally boney chest. Even if his face was hidden from view, there was an air around him made it seem as if he was smiling. He took up his large scythe and pointed it forward.

"Have you betrayed me?" he asked in amusement. "That brat bewitched you."

An indignant growl forced its way out of Allen's throat. "He told me the truth monster," he turned to walk away. "You aren't a death god and you didn't save me. You were just there that day to steal the souls of the dead for your stupid experiments. And for some unknown reason you left me alive. That innocence piece that you stole was what healed me." He stopped at the mouth of the alley. "I owe you nothing you lying thief!"

The cheerful air around the Earl dissipated and he roared out in laughter. Allen froze at the god-awful sound. It chilled his bones to the core.

"I'm a liar?" the Earl asked once his laughter died down. "I think not." Allen turned to face him. "I just never told you my reason, but the vampire lord on the other hand. How much do you trust him?"

Allen's answer was immediate.

"I trust Kanda with my life."

"What a joke. Don't tell me you've fallen in love with the brat," the Earl let out another bark of laughter. "You're merely fooling yourself mortal. He will not love _you_. The only reason he wants you there is because of your soul."

Allen had taken that into consideration but he didn't want to believe it. He knew how much Kanda had _loved_ Lavi but he was sure he could make him forget all about the redhead. That would be hard considering that he had Lavi's soul. _'I've made it clear to him that I am not Lavi. He said he understood and I'm going to believe him.'_

"Soul or no soul I'm sure Kanda loves me," he said with a growl. "I'm sure of that." The last part was whispered.

"Your tone tells me you don't believe that," the Earl countered. "I would too if I were you. He has been lying to you, you know."

"Shut up, I don't believe you!" Allen yelled he turned back to leave. "I'm not listening to any of this!"

The Earl chuckled. "I have proof."

Allen stopped in his tracks. It wasn't that he doubted Kanda, but he could tell there was something that Kanda was keeping from him. He didn't know whether Kanda really loved him or it was just because he had Lavi's soul. There was a lingering doubt there, but he couldn't help it. Kanda wasn't an affectionate person and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

"What proof?" he asked hesitantly.

The Earl seemed to smile. "Follow me."

Allen stared in shock at the grave before him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was a grave before him with his name on it. _'Wait a sec, this can't be? Is that my…my grave?'_

"This is not real," his voice was broken. "It can't be…"

"Oh but it is," the Earl replied. "To your family, you died three years ago. You are dead to them."

Allen couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But Kanda…he, he always brought my letters to them. And he always brought back messages to me from them."

"He lied."

"That can't be true!" Allen yelled. _'Kanda wouldn't, he wouldn't do something like that.'_ "You," he turned to glare at the Earl. "You did this! I bet this is all your illusion!"

The Earl chuckled. "You can't believe that your precious vampire lord lied toy you, but you can believe that I placed you in an illusion?" he pulled his hood down revealing his rotted face. "I haven't consumed blood in millenniums! How can I be strong enough to put you in an illusion? The vampire lord on the other hand has all his power. Tell me Allen Walker, which one of us is more likely to trap you in an illusion? Which one of us would do anything to prevent your leaving, just because you hold something precious to them?" the skull faced seemed to smirk. "The vampire lord only sees you as his past lover. That bookman was the only one he would ever love. Hasn't that occurred to you yet? He doesn't love you, he loves Lavi."

Allen felt lost. Hearing that from someone else's mouth made it seem true. Kanda didn't want him to leave because he had Lavi's soul. All the shy loving gazes that Kanda sent his way was just because he had Lavi's soul. Everything that Kanda did and say to him that made him felt loved was just because _he had Lavi's soul_. He didn't want to believe it…but it was true. _'Kanda doesn't love me, it was always about Lavi.'_

How could he be so foolish? Kanda barely cared about him. He thought Kanda cared, but that was only because he was Lavi's reincarnation. Did Kanda ever saw him as Allen Walker the person and not as Allen Walker the reincarnation of Lavi? Right now he highly doubted it. Why else would Kanda have lied to him? _'I wonder if he even knew that I was supposed to be dead,'_ he gave a bitter laugh. _'I bet he did, and then brainwashed Kuu so that I wouldn't catch on.'_

"Have you finally connected the pieces?" the Earl asked, the dark aura oozed out from the ground and surrounded him. "He has been lying to you so you shouldn't trust him. Help me get my revenge, I've suffered long enough. Won't you help me Allen Walker?"

Allen turned to face the putrid creature with dispassionate gray eyes. The Earl expected Allen to agree and follow him; no he knew Allen would follow him. Humans were easy to manipulate and bend to his whim. He knew he had struck a core with the boy and he was just waiting for the anger to flare up. For Allen to want to get revenge on the vampire lord for treating him like a vessel for his precious La–

"No."

The Earl blinked. Where was the anger? "What was that?"

"I said no, I won't help you," Allen replied in a firm tone. "Kanda lied to me but I'm not going to help you kill him just because of that."

He wasn't about to jump to conclusions. Kanda would have to explain himself first, but that didn't mean he would still help the Earl even after he heard Kanda's reason. He loved Kanda and he would not hurt him, no matter what. Kanda was someone he would protect with his life.

A chuckle that didn't come from the Earl alerted Allen to the presence of someone behind him.

"That will be a problem then, shounen."

Allen barely had time to register who was behind him before Tyki knocked him out cold. He fell to his knees before he hit the ground with a thud. Road came up from behind Tyki and stooped down to stare at Allen's older face. They both looked as if they haven't aged in the last three years.

"Ah he looks so hot now!" she gushed. "Can I keep him after we're done Count-sama?"

The Earl chuckled at her eagerness. "I don't see why not," he turned to face Tyki. "I will leave the fetching of our dear lord to you."

Tyki gave a slight bowed and then suddenly disappeared.

"Road, let us set up to welcome our guest of honor."

Road gave a vast grin. "Sure thing."

A sigh passed Kanda's lips as he hurried towards the park where he was to meet Kuu and Allen. He managed to leave the meeting early and once he was out he practically ran home to change. Now he was almost there. _'Ah there's Kuu,' _he gave a sigh in relief but that died when he didn't see Allen.

"Mommy!" Kuu called. She had taken up to calling him that and even though he corrected her countless of times – telling her over and over that he was a _man_ – she didn't stop. So he got used to it. "You're really late." She pouted, which was a cute sight. "Where is daddy? Is he with you?"

Kanda blinked. _'The moyashi isn't with Kuu? What the hell is going on?'_ "Wait he's not with you?"

"Nope," Kuu replied. "I was here waiting a long time for you two. It was so boring!"

'_That's strange,' _Kanda thought, fear started to creep into his mind. _'He wasn't at the castle. Where is he?'_

"I believe you are looking for the young lad?" Tyki materialized before the two. "I know where to find him."

Kanda glared at the intruder. _'Gold eyes, gray skin and those crosses on his forehead, he's a perfected vampire, a Noah.'_ "Where is he?" he growled. _'No, this can't be happening! How did something like this happen? That monster can't set a foot on my family's land, so how did he get to kidnap the moyashi?'_

"The Earl is currently keeping his company," Tyki replied with a smirk. "I am here to guide you to them."

Kanda didn't want to think about how similar the current situation was to the time of Lavi's death. Someone abducted Lavi when he was on his way home. Kanda had gone to save him but it was too late. By the time he got there he found Lavi lying on the ground bloodied and beaten, and it was humans who did it to him. Back then the world was a superstitious mess and people feared what they didn't understand, but most of all they feared talk of vampires. Lavi was suspected to be involved with a vampire and they took it up on themselves to pass judgment on him.

The Earl was the one who hinted to them about Lavi's involvement, he was the one that caused it. Since then Kanda had hated him even more.

When Kanda had seen Lavi all bloodied and almost dead, he lost all reasoning and slaughtered all those who were there. He didn't give a damn if they humans for they had laid their filthy hands on his precious Lavi. After each and every one of the humans laid dead on the ground he rushed over to help Lavi. Lavi struggled to say that he didn't want to die and that had broke Kanda's heart. So he tried to save him by turning him into a vampire, but he messed up and ended up killing Lavi instead. The regret he felt that day still lingered in his heart.

"I'll follow you," Kanda growled. _'Then I'll kill you.'_ He turned to Kuu who was looking up at him with a worried look in her bright pink eyes. "Kuu head back to the orphanage now."

"You'll find daddy and bring him back?" tears filled her eyes but she wiped them away.

Kanda gave her one of his rare smiles. "I will, so wait for us at the orphanage ok."

Kuu nodded and gave a smile of her own. She would do what she could to help. With one last look at her mommy she ran towards the direction of the orphanage. Kanda watched until she was out of sight before he turned to face the Noah before him. It was late in the evening but he knew Kuu would be alright. There were vampires who were loyal to him all around and they would protect her in his stead. Besides, Kuu's vampiric powers awakened two years ago and she was perfectly capable of protecting herself.

"Oi, take me there."

Tyki's smirk widened.

The air felt cold and stifling and it was becoming increasingly hard to breathe. Allen felt small hands caressing his face and bare chest but he couldn't do much about it. He was bound with both his hands and feet and something hard and itchy scraped against his bare back. The caresses felt disgusting and he wanted it to stop. He struggled to open his eyes but it hurt to do so. His body groan in protest as the hands travelled lower and lower. When he felt a firm grasp on a place that shouldn't be touched – but only by Kanda – his eyes snapped open.

"Back off," he growled.

Amused gold eyes blinked up at him with fake innocence.

"Don't you like it?" Road asked with a slight smirk.

"No," Allen wanted to move away but it hurt to do so. What the hell did they do to him! "Do you see that dead dick? There's no way I enjoyed that."

He didn't care if he was being vulgar to a young girl. _'Young girl my ass, she's a vampire. I bet she's really old.'_ "Now be a good little monster-brat and let me the hell go!"

Road gave him a wicked grin before she squeezed the limp organ in her grasp. She gave a triumphant smirk when Allen hissed in pain.

"You're not helping my plans," she said in a bored tone. "I was planning on letting that brat see his precious Lavi in the throes of pleasure with another person, but you're being stubborn." She tucked his flaccid member back in his pants and zipped it up. "For being stubborn I'll switch to my next plan." She ran her claws across Allen's bare chest and her gold eyes flashed dangerously. "I'll let him see you crying out in pain!"

"Road."

At the sound of her name, Road stopped from her attempt to claw Allen's heart out. She got up from where she was stooped before Allen and turned to face the one who addressed her. Allen turned his head in that direction and saw the Earl looking back at him with his rotted face in full view.

"Our main guest will be arriving soon," the Earl gave a chuckle and his eyeless sockets seemed to glow. "Everything will be settled tonight."

Allen glared at the Earl but paused when he saw where they were. The area was surrounded by trees and making the old ruins appear that more ancient. _'Where is this place?'_ He had lived in England all his life but he had never heard of a place like this. It was both glorious and terrifying in its appearance. The aura encircling the place felt cold and deadly. It chilled Allen to the bone leaving him feeling terrified, not for him but for Kanda.

'_Shit, it was a trap. He wants to trap Kanda here,'_ he thought bitterly. _'Kanda will come here to rescue me…or should I say rescue Lavi's soul.'_ He gave a light snort. _'Stupid Kanda, he's rushing here to his death…for that guy.'_ It hurt to think that but it was true. Kanda would be coming there to save him just because he had Lavi's soul. _'Am I pitiful or what…'_

"Allen Walker, you will have a front row seat to my revival," the Earl continued. "I will slaughter that brat before you."

"There is no way you can," Allen tried to sound confident but for some reason he didn't believe his own words. "The curse on you prevents you from touching him. You can't do anything to him."

"On his family ground," Road said with a giggle. "Count-sama can not lay a hand on the vampire lord on his land. But we aren't on his family land are we? This whole forest was once Count-sama's castle, until it was destroyed."

The whole reality of it begun to sunk in. Kanda was rushing towards his death…he was going to make a stupid mistake and get himself killed to save him. _'No!'_ Allen personally didn't want to die, but more than his own life; he realized that he didn't want Kanda to die.

"It's show time."

Allen turned his head just in time to see Kanda appear in a light cloud of smoke. He was sure Kanda would bring an army with him but he didn't. Kanda was the only one there. Did he really want to die that bad?

"Kanda! You idiot why are you here!" he yelled as he struggled against the restraint that held his hand captive behind him. "It a trap! They wanted to lure you here to kill yo–"

"I know," Kanda replied interrupting him.

Allen was taken aback by Kanda's nonchalant attitude. _'He's going to die why the hell is he so freaking calm!'_

"Welcome Kanda-sama," the Earl gave a low bow. "I welcome you to my castle and my lands. Unfortunately it is not up to standard but after your death it will be."

Kanda gave a smirk before he pulled Mugen from its sheath. "You seem confident that you will succeed in killing me."

The Earl gave an eerier smirk of his own. "But of course."

Before he was finished talking Tyki launched at Kanda. Kanda parried the attack and kicked out but Tyki dodged it. He jumped a few steps back and Kanda dashed after him. Kanda stopped suddenly and flipped back when a large scythe almost slashed him in two. The Earl came up before him.

"Good reflexes," he lifted his scythe up, its blade glowed an eerie red. "But not good enough."

Kanda grunted and fell to his knees. Blood oozed from a wound on his right leg. Tyki had managed to get an attack in his legs when he tried to dodge the scythe. It wasn't very deep but it still made moving around a hindrance.

"Kanda!" Allen yelled in obvious worry. He struggle against the chains harder. "Shit my innocence won't activate."

"Of course it won't," Road replied with a cheery giggle. "That chain binds innocence. As long as your hand is bound to it, it won't activate."

The Earl and Tyki gave Kanda no time to recover, they launched at him attacking mercilessly. Kanda had to dodge while trying to not put pressure on his leg. He limped for a while before he broke out into a run. Allen gave a sigh in relief. _'He's healed already. Thank goodness.'_

Kanda was faring a little better despite fighting two strong opponents at the same time. He dodged most of the attacks directed his way and returned some of his own with equal force. The Earl blocked most of the attacks using his large scythe. He brought it back and swung it forward. Kanda flipped back to dodge the blade but just as he landed on his feet Tyki pierced him from behind. He turned to attack Tyki and the Earl used it as an opportunity to attack Kanda's turned back.

"NO! Kanda!" Allen struggled against the bonds viciously but it wouldn't budge. "Shit, stupid chain break already!" _'I can't activate my innocence.'_

Blood rushed from the long deep cut on Kanda's back. He staggered forward with a muttered curse but Tyki kicked him, which sent him flying back. The Earl was about to attack again but Kanda dodged by rolling on the ground. He got back on his feet and put some distance between him and the two.

"Kanda! Get me out of here! Let me help!" Allen yelled. "I can help you fight!"

"No…" Kanda struggled to say. It was getting hard to stand. _'Shit that wound on my back isn't healing.'_ "I can…deal with this. Just shut…up and stay there…"

The Earl chuckled. "My, my, my. Those wounds are looking bad."

Allen noticed that too. _'Why isn't Kanda's wounds healing yet?_' Kanda's speed was deteriorating and so was his aim. Tyki and the Earl were winning. _'No! You can't die Kanda!'_ He struggled against the bonds. _'Damn it, I have to help him!'_

Kanda gave a low curse when he felt blood running down his legs. His wounds were healing at a much slower pace than normal. _'What is going on?'_ There was something that was slowing down his rapid healing and he didn't know what it was. He managed to dodge another one of Tyki's attacks but he ended up running in the one of the Earl's.

A grunt forced its way out his mouth. He ignored the new wound on his left arm in favor of putting more distance between him and his attackers. He was loosing blood at a fast rate but that was the least of his problem. A little blood loss wouldn't stop him for good. But his wounds still weren't healed and it was slowing him down.

Tyki appeared as if out of no where and punched him. Kanda dodged it only to run into the Earl. He barely made a clean block from the scythe. _'Shit, it's like some kind of pattern.'_ Kanda was beginning to catch on to their strategy. _'That corpse is the only one who gets to lay an attack on me. Wait, could it be?'_ He saw Tyki coming at him from the corner of his eye. Instead of dodging the attack; he took it head on. Tyki's claws managed to leave four deep bloodied gashes in his face. It stung initially but eventually it healed. _'So that's it.'_

"Kanda what the hell are you doing!" Allen yelled. _'Why did he take that attack head on?'_ "Damn it, swallow your pride and get me out of here so I can help you!"

Kanda spared a glance to Allen so that he could show him the now healing wound. When he saw Allen's eyes widening he knew he figured it out too. _'They were planning it, so that only that corpse could attack me. That Noah was the distraction, any wounds from him heals. But that scythe what is it?'_ He changed his strategy. Now whenever Tyki attacked him he blocked and attacked accordingly but he avoided the Earl's scythe at all cost.

"You finally caught on," the Earl mused. "This is no ordinary scythe. Its blade was crafted using solidified Kromite."

The unnatural red glowed brighter bringing Kanda's attention to it. _'That scythe blade was created using Kromite! Shit, no wonder my wounds aren't healing as usual.'_

"I'm sure you know what the liquefied and the crystallized versions are capable of. The solidified version is much worse," the Earl continued with a sort of smirk. "When a vampire is attacked with this blade it only affects their healing. The haling rate will be much slower. But when a human is attacked with this blade their healing rate stops completely. They will not be able to heal their wound whether it is over time or by external help."

Allen shivered in fear at what the Earl said. _'If I get attacked by that it's game over.'_ He couldn't help the fear that flooded his body from that thought. Kanda sensed his fear and snapped him self out of his pain induced stupor. _'I have to save the moyashi.'_ Right now he didn't see him as Lavi's reincarnation. He saw him as someone who was even more important than Lavi. _'I won't let anything happen to him.'_

He ignored the pain and dashed towards where Tyki stood. _'I just have to avoid that blade.'_ It was easier said than done. The Earl was always there, attacking him when he least expected it and when he was busy with Tyki. Kanda endured another attack from Tyki so that he could avoid the Earl's blade. The wound hurt but it healed promptly after so it didn't bother him much. _'I'm still slowing down,'_ he thought annoyed. _'I have to end this quick or else.'_

Allen couldn't take watching the fight anymore. It wasn't a fair one; they were ganging up on Kanda. Two against one wasn't fair damn it! He wanted to tell Kanda to leave but he knew Kanda wouldn't. _'Is Lavi that important to you?'_

"Damn it Kanda! Why don't you s–"

"Shut up moyashi I'm getting you out of here!" Kanda yelled interrupting him. "I don't want what happened to Lavi happen again."

That made Allen pissed. _'I knew it was all about Lavi, but it hurt to hear him say it.'_ "Just stop, I can't stand to hear you talk about 'Lavi' anymore," his voice shook. "Is this your way of making it up to your Lavi? If I didn't have Lavi's soul, I know you wouldn't be here."

Kanda would have loved to head over there and beat him senseless, but he was preoccupied at the moment. He dodged Tyki's claws and grabbed onto his right hand. He then twirled him around so that he could throw him towards the Earl. After the two were a few feet away from him he turned to yell at Allen.

"Is that why you think I'm here?" he growled out. "I'm here to get _you_ moyashi! I don't care if you have Lavi's soul or not! I'm here for _you_ damn it!"

To say Allen was shocked stiff would be an understatement. Time seemed to stop for him as Kanda's outburst registered into his mind. Kanda said he was there for him, as in _him_, Allen Walker and not just for Lavi's soul. Did that mean he didn't care about Lavi anymore? _'Did I manage to make him forget Lavi?'_ His heart swelled with happiness at the thought. But that was short lived when Kanda collapsed to his knees.

"Kanda!"

"Shit," Kanda cursed. His vision was getting blurry. The wounds wouldn't heal and the pain was making it hard to stay upright. He had never felt pain like that before, at least not physical wise. His wounds were barely healing and he didn't know how long he would hold out. _'Azalea, what is taking her so long to find this place?'_

He barely had time to entertain another thought before he felt himself flying forward, with a force that had him crushing three thick trees in his path. A groan passed his lips when he landed and he forced himself up to his feet in order to dodge the Earl's scythe. The Earl raised his scythe then lowered it to slash Kanda's stomach. The force of the blow sent him airborne, back into another tree. He knocked his head into its hard bark and coughed up blood.

"Damn it all! Kanda!" Allen didn't want to lose Kanda. He now knew that Kanda accepted him as himself and not as Lavi's reincarnation. _'No, no, no! I don't want to lose him!'_

The Earl took his time to walk up to Kanda. His scythe glowed cacophonously in the midst of the night. He stopped once he was a few feet before Kanda.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen," he gave a piercing laugh. "Goodbye, _my lord_." The last past was mocking. He raised his scythe.

"NOOOOO!"

A bright light engulfed Allen's left hand and his innocence activated. He easily ripped through the chains on his arm and went to work on the ones on his leg, breaking them with ease.

"That is not possible. The innocence should not have activated," Road was in shock.

Allen barely gave her a second glance before he dashed towards where Kanda was. He didn't have time to waste. Kanda was in major trouble and if he didn't hurry up he would die. He was a few feet away from where Kanda was. _'I can make it, I have to.'_

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Kanda. He opened his eyes only to see the Earl before him getting ready to end his life. His wounds ached but he was willing to continue fighting. He tried to lift his sword to block the attack but his arms felt dead. _'Shit I can't block it. My arms won't move.'_ He expected to feel another wave of pain but it never came. _'What the?'_

He raised his head, surprised at seeing someone's bare back before him. The pale muscular back flexed slightly before tensing. Kanda's eyes widened as the familiar scent of blood wafted to his senses. _'No…it can't be…'_ The body before him gave a violent shudder.

Allen couldn't say he wasn't shocked at what he did. He knew he wouldn't have made it if he attacked, so he threw himself in front of the attack. This was something a normal Allen would never do. He feared for his life more than anything and wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize it. Kanda knew it and even the Earl knew it. So for Allen to forfeit his life for someone one else, he must really valued their life more than his.

He turned his head back to look at Kanda. Blood spilled from his mouth and his face looked sickly white. "Are…you ok…Kanda?" the words barely made it out his mouth before he collapsed.

"Moyashi!"

Allen fell back into Kanda's arms. The wound Allen received was deep and it wasn't healing. Not even the innocence was helping. _'No, this can't be!'_ Kanda repeated the words over and over in his mind. Right now he wasn't thinking of loosing Lavi a second time; he was fretting about losing Allen. He realized it a few years back that what he felt for Lavi and what he felt for Allen was in two completely different leagues.

For Lavi the attachment he felt was normal, because it was his first love. The years of regret he felt afterwards was because he felt guilty for letting Lavi die. It was the reason he never wanted to replace Lavi. He never wanted to get hurt again. That was why he refused to move one, but Allen came and changed that. At first he was glad that he had Lavi's soul but over the few years that passed he realized something that shocked him. What he felt for Lavi and Allen weren't the same. If Allen died…he didn't think he could go on without him.

"Damn it moyashi! Why did you do that?" Kanda yelled. _'You can't die!'_

"Gomen…Kanda…" Allen paused to cough. Blood trickled down his chin. "I don't…w-want…to d-die…" Kanda felt his heart constrict as the situation became familiar. "…but…if y-you…were to die…I'd…be sad…" Allen raised his hand to touch Kanda's right cheek. "…what you said before…made…me…happy…" he gave a weak smile as life slowly drained from his eyes. "I love you…Kanda…forgive…me…" _I didn't want to leave you alone…_

His hands fell limp at his side. He gave a small smile as his eyes slowly closed. _'I think I understand what Lavi meant when he said he didn't want to die. He didn't mean it was because he was afraid to die, he meant he didn't want to die and leave you by yourself,'_ Allen's eyes fully closed. _'Loneliness is what you fear most…isn't…it…Kanda…?'_

Kanda didn't like that Allen's eyes wouldn't open. _'No, no, no, no, NO!'_ "Moyashi get up! Damn it, get up!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes but he refused to let them fall. "You are not dead! Don't you dare die on me!"

It hurt even more than losing Lavi. It was like he was losing half of his soul and he knew there was no way he would ever get over something like this. He hugged Allen's freezing cold body to his equally glacial one. His mind was blank, and revenge was the only thing that would keep him going, until he too ended his life…

"How heartwarming," the Earl mocked. "Let me put you out of your misery."

He raised his scythe once more but Kanda remained unmoving. Suddenly Tyki appeared before the Earl. His right hand was cut clean off from an unknown attack that was directed towards the Earl.

"Damn it I almost got him," Azalea said with a slight pout. She appeared a few steps before where the Earl stood. "Your subordinates are really loyal." She flashed the blood off her own scythe.

"Azalea, you cursed wretch," the Earl roared in anger. He looked around the vicinity seeing that the area was filled with vampires and slayers that were not on his side. "I see you've brought your army."

"We're here to stop you!" Azalea yelled. "You will pay for what you did to our lord and his half!"

Road appeared before Tyki. "We must retreat," she urged. "This will not end well if we stay."

"I agree," the Earl replied. "Let us make our escape." He turned to face Kanda. "Till next we meet, _my lord_."

They turned and ran. Their extreme speed made it seem as if they disappeared from sight.

Kanda raised his head; incensed blood red eyes regarded those around him. "What the fuck are you all still here for?" he growled out, his voice low and dangerous. "_**After them**__!_"

"You heard our lord!" Azalea added. "Make sure none of them survives. Slaughter them!"

His army needed no more persuasion. They all gave chase. Azalea was the only one who stayed behind. She knew her powers were needed but she couldn't abandon her lord when he was at his weakest.

"Kanda-sama, let me check his wounds," even though she knew it was futile she still asked. She stooped down to check him but it was the same. "His pulse is scarcely there…and he is barely alive…he will be dead in a few seconds. The properties in the Kromite stopped all form of healing, he can't be saved."

"He's gone…" Kanda's voice was a broken shell but it didn't show on his face. His face remained blank as if he didn't believe what was happening. "Isn't there anything I can do…?"

Azalea knew it would come to this but…she didn't want to mention it. Not after how badly it turned out the last time. Kanda may be a pureblood vampire but he if he tried to turn a human, there was a three out of ten chance that they would survive. His blood was rare and due to that property, it could be toxic to most humans.

In order to turn a human he must drain their body of blood and then replace some of it with his. The human must accept his blood or they will die. When he forced his blood into Lavi's body it was rejected and that was what killed him.

"Kanda-sama, why not try to change him?" she voiced.

"I…can't."

"Why not?" she snapped. "He will die either way! You should try; you might be able to bring him back! Not as a human but as one of us."

Kanda looked torn between his options. "I don't want to condemn him to this life," he said finally. "And it won't succeed…"

Azalea tried to calm herself down. "What happened with Lavi may not happen again. It is a thirty percent chance of success. You might succeed. Fate is not that cruel…"

Kanda stared at the pale boy in his grasps. The blood had completely drained from his body and what little remained was slowly following the rest. _'I don't want to lose you.'_ A single crimson tear trailed down his cheek. _'If I end up killing you like I did with Lavi…I will follow right after you without delay.'_ He leaned forward – it was all or nothing – and sunk his fangs into Allen's neck.

'_I love you…Allen.'_

**The End**

A/N: OMG 38 pages! Woo hoo new writing record! Okies so who saw that ending coming? Alright so it wasn't much of an ending, I mean you all don't know whether Allen survived or not. I bet ya'll are yelling like mad saying 'oh my god how can you end a freaking story with a damn cliffhanger baka!' or something like that ne? Oh but that was how I had planned to have the story end…ok so I'm being mean. But don't worry I have an epilogue that shall answer all your questions! I have it typed up and all – before I even finished typing this part up – but I will be posting it at a later date…sorry for being mean again!

Well so we saw the weird but sweet relationship between Allen and Kanda. So maybe there was a little too much Lavi x Yuu but I needed to put a little challenge there for Allen. Ah and poor Allen never got to go home to his family. Not to mention his family was split apart with the twins and Ryuu being adopted and all.

Ah I'm glad my little oneshot – well twoshot – is finished! Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Look forward to the epilogue. It's going to be short but I hope ya'll like it none the less! Until next time! Luvies ya'll! *waves like mad*

Ja na!

Kaos


	3. Epilogue

Disclaimer: …still don't own…

A/N: Ahhhhhhhhhh! Its epilogue time! Yeah uh huh! Okies lets get this show on the road! Thank you all who reviewed! *bows in thanks*

Enjoy!

* * *

Epilogue

Cobalt eyes gazed in fascination at the persons gathered in front of a marked grave. How many years had it been? It was too little for him to acknowledge. After all ten years wasn't much time in a vampire's eyes. Over the ten years not much had happened. After the Earl had tried to kill him he had managed to escape. He wasn't sure when he would attack again but when he did; he would be ready.

His eyes took in the persons that assembled; most of their faces grim. That was something he noticed, even after the years that passed their facial expression stayed the same. He should know; he had been watching them for years. One girl in particular kept a small smile in place. Her bright pink eyes locked with his briefly before she turned her attention to the tombstone. Even from his place hidden in the trees he could still make out the name engraved on the tombstone: Allen Walker. The year of his death was wrong; he died ten and not thirteen years ago. Ironically he died on the same day that the Earl revived him but three years later.

An older lady with short green hair cried unabashedly, her tears streaking down her face in waves. She was comforted by an older man who cradled her lovingly against his chest. His heart was breaking from the sight; he wasn't able to protect his family. He wasn't able to prevent their tears. Kanda sympathized with them.

'_Lenalee and Komui, maybe I should apologize to them.'_

Beside the two siblings stood another pair of siblings; twins. The two youths seeming to be in their early twenties grasped each other hands in a tight lock. Their guilt shone brightly in their pale blue eyes. Komui had assured them countless of times that it wasn't their fault but they still thought it was.

'_Mira and Kira, after all these years they still feel responsible?'_

In front of them stood a young boy of eighteen or so, he held the same look of intense love and regret in his eyes that he held over the years. His long black hair shadowed his bright green eyes – which were red a puffy from crying – hiding them from view. He wrapped his arms around his body in an attempt to keep himself together.

'_Ryuu's become quite beautiful.'_

Beside Ryuu was he last person of the group, a teen of sixteen. She was the same girl who always had a smile on her face whenever she visited this particular grave. Her lush pink hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail that resembled the way Kanda wore his hair.

'_Kuu is still the same as ever.'_

"After thirteen years, they still meet up and visit his grave," Kanda muttered under his breath. He'd been there watching them grow, from ten years ago till now. "Humans are very confusing creatures."

From his safe spot in a large oak tree before where everyone stood, a pair of red eyes came into view behind him. Piercing white fangs protruded from pale lips only to descend themselves into Kanda's pale neck. A low moan scratched itself out Kanda's throat before his eyes too bleed to red, and his bloodlust begun to rise.

After a few gulps the person retreated, blood lining their fangs and lips. The person licked it clean, loving the taste of the blood on their tongue. Kanda gave a sigh and his eyes returned to normal, breaking him out of his bloodlust state. He crossed his arms across his chest in a huff.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I though you were sleeping," he turned his head to stare into crystalline gray eyes, "moyashi."

Allen chuckled in delight and he proceeded to kiss and nip across Kanda's cheek and jaw. He paused and tipped Kanda's head up holding his chin in his grasps.

"I woke up only to find you missing, my dear," he purred, a tongue flicked out ephemerally to lick at a spot on Kanda's lips. "So I came to find you."

Kanda moved his head from his grasp, his mood darkened with every word Allen spoke. He turned his gaze back to the grave and the people standing there.

"You shouldn't be out in the sun, yet you defy me still," Kanda muttered knowing full well that Allen would be able to hear him. "I told you before you're still a new born vampire by any standards. You're only ten years old and too young to be exposed to the sun."

Allen gave a smile at Kanda's muttered rants. _'You really care about me.'_

"Yeah right," Kanda snorted, having heard his thoughts. "I just would like to avoid seeing you turning to dust by the sun; you're not strong enough moyashi. I don't want all my efforts to go to waste. You are my only successful human turned vampire."

"Hehe you just don't want to lose me," Allen chuckled but at Kanda's dark glare he kept his mouth shut. "I'm sorry I disobeyed you," he apologized, "but I haven't seen everyone in such a long time. I wanted to see them again, that's all." His eyes were filled with such regret and sadness that Kanda had to look away.

Kanda was the one who took him away from his short mortal life. That fateful day ten years ago, Allen had both died and was reborn. He died as a mortal and was reborn as an immortal. Allen's body accepted his blood. His conversion was a success; he had managed to turn Allen into an immortal. And for that he felt immense guilt.

He wanted to keep Allen with him, but he also wanted him to live the life of a normal human. It was selfish of him to give him something as burdening as eternal life. Though it was the only way to save him from the clutches of death, he realized it wasn't something he wanted to condemn someone he loved to. As he had both saved him and killed him on that day, taking him away from the ones he loved forever. Not to mention before he had lied to keep him away from them. He still felt guilty about it.

"Gomen," the whispered word carried all the regret he felt from lying to Allen. It was something he wanted to tell him a long time ago, but he couldn't find the chance to. "Because of me, you won't be able to meet with them or to walk the night for awhile, as people you know might be able to recognize you. You'll be condemned to my castle until the youngest member of your family generation perishes."

Allen's eyes moved from gazing at Kanda to staring at the persons – his family – who stood before his empty grave. A poignant expression engulfed his face.

"I know."

At his admission Kanda felt himself racked with guilt. He continued to blame himself and he felt shame heat up his face as he remembered the real reason why he didn't want Allen to leave his castle. Dare he say it; he was afraid Allen would leave him and go back to his family. After all he had lied to keep him there before. He didn't want to admit it that ever since Allen came into his life; he felt as if the hole in his heart had been filled and he was terrified to go back to how he was before.

He was terrified of being alone.

"I know I won't be able to meet them and grow up with them. Heck I can't even grow up," he chuckled to lighten the mood. "But believe me when I say I wouldn't want it any other way," a smile crossed his face when he took in Kanda's surprised expression. "My only regret is not being able to talk to them. They're doing well and I can watch them grow from a far, I can be like their guardian angel," he took Kanda's hand into his. "I'm not going to leave you all by yourself Kanda."

A blush stained Kanda's cheeks and he muttered an 'I don't need your company moyashi' to hide his flustered state. Yet he didn't pull his hand away. Allen chuckled at how cute he was acting and placed a lingering kiss on his neck.

"And it's not like I'm unable to talk to everyone," he smiled as he waved to the lone figure at his grave; everyone else had already left due to the late time. "I can always see Kuu, she is our daughter."

Kuu waved back to him discretely, her eyes wild with tears for everyone who didn't know the truth. She managed a bright smile and mouthed something before she ran to catch up with the others. Allen felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes but he held it in, one managed to escape his hold. The lone crimson tear trailed down his left cheek.

"Come one lets go," Kanda whispered, he pulled him up by their connected hands. "Kuu will be home soon."

"Yup," Allen replied allowing himself to be pulled up by Kanda. He wiped the tear streak with his other hand, while a bright smile lit up his face. "Let's go home."

"_They really miss you a lot, dad."

* * *

_

Owari (_ _)

A/N: So here's the epilogue. So sad, so sweet and yeah Allen isn't dead! Woot woot! A show of hands for all those who saw that coming! *Author looks around* wow a lot eh? Oh well I pride myself in being predictable or so I thought. Well then this little one-shot became a two-shot and now it's a three-shot…I'm just weird like that hehe. Sankyuu to all who read and reviewed! Kaos-sensei appreciates ya'll a lot! Well until my next mad-mix! Luvies ya'll *winks* ;)

Ja na!

Kaos


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